This Marikina Resto Provides Free Home-Style Meals for PUV Drivers, Delivery Riders

(SPOT.ph) Even in the murk of global adversity, there are pockets of hope in the form of people going beyond themselves to help out those in need. Case in point: Marikina dining gem Trining’s Kitchen Stories has been giving out free meals to jeepney drivers and delivery riders, who continue to bear the brunt of the rapid spikes in gas prices brought on by the U.S.-Israel war against Iran.

Launched under Trinings’ volunteer arm #TuloyPH, the initiative began last Monday, April 6. “Our internal target is 2,000 to 3,000 meals, depending on how much resources we can raise,” shares Trinings’ Jayson Gaspar Maulit. As of writing they’re at around P145,000 worth of cash and in-kind donations. They've also received pledges for ingredients to be used—chicken and eggs from Bounty Cares, and beef from Primebeef. "We will cook for as long as we have the resources to do so."

With these, the team has given out 1,125 meals in the past days, as well as 100 bottles of coffee from The Coffee District. The exact meals vary per day: on Monday (250 meals) there was pansit loaded with Benguet veggies; on Tuesday (300 meals) there was sayote with hibe, a homemade tomato sauce, and chicken; on Wednesday (575 meals) there was binagoongan, gising-gising, and ginisang repolyo with tofu. Today, Friday, they’ll be serving 500 portions of chicken pochero.

Through the endeavor, Trining’s has helped keep riders and drivers in the area from going hungry, even if for the duration of a meal—an impactful move especially in these times. “A rider told me: ‘Sir, pinadaan talaga ako ng Diyos dito ngayon.’ He said he has not eaten all day, has had no passenger, and he used his last P100 to buy gasoline,” says Jayson.

The staff of Trining’s understood the assignment and were more than happy to help. “Perhaps one of the more inspiring things about this initiative is the enthusiasm of the Trining’s staff in all this. They understand the situation. They also know that their skills are their most meaningful contribution as of yet. In fact, what we serve our drivers are iterations of the restaurant menu. They are also our family meals for the day. So we will not serve anything we won’t eat ourselves.”

The Trining's team made it a point to source and make use of fresh produce from their partner farmers from Benguet's Greens for Good. “Farmers are severely hit by the crisis, too. So we buy directly from them at prices higher than farmgate. When they found out this was for the transport sector ops, they matched the purchased vegetables in terms of weight, which gave us a headstart and allowed us to cook massively even with limited meat.”

It was heartwarming seeing their followers and others go out of their way to help through their donations, Jayson shares. “A lot of the donations, mga P100, P90, P50, ganun. Some would message me apologizing for their ‘small’ donations. I mildly broke down when we received a P22 donation with the note: Pasensiya na po kayo, ito na lang laman ng GCash ko. For a fellow Filipino to empty their wallet for others, even if they themselves feel the effect of the crisis, is proof that we stand up for each other when the times call us to do so.”

Jayson and his family had also done similar projects before: they did a gratitude campaign for frontliners during the pandemic, as well as a fundraiser for the hospital expenses of their grandmother, Trining (the very inspiration behind the restaurant!).

“We’ve experienced the generosity of fellow Filipinos, most of whom were strangers, who stood with us at a terribly difficult time,” says Jayson. “When I opened [Trining’s] the restaurant, I was heart-bound to that philosophy: that the Filipino kitchen is built to serve, and that food carries responsibility. So during times of calamity, and depending on the severity of damage, we close the restaurant and convene #TuloyPH, our volunteer arm, as a nutrition brigade.”

Jayson operates by the main principle of “food dignity”—that is, providing "nutritious, delicious, and dignified evacuation food" with help of partners in the industry and private donors. “In the last activation for Typhoons Crising, Dante, and Emong, we did 50,812 meals in five days that reached 15 cities and municipalities in Metro Manila and San Mateo,” Maulit shares. "The ops for the transport sector follows the same principle: to help a vulnerable community get through the day, one hot meal at a time."

“We also want to say that we do not aim to, and we cannot ever, solve the problems of stakeholders. This should be done by institutions larger and more powerful than us," he emphasizes. "But we want to also prove that a scrappy kitchen can help. And if we can, there is no excuse for those who have more access to power and capital not to do this, and not to do better.”

Trining's Kitchen Stories is a neighborhood restaurant in Marikina that opened in 2024, serving Ilocano comforts using Jayson's family recipes. They're among those on SPOT.ph's 2024 50 Great Restaurants list.

Donations can be made via Tuloy! PH or dropped off at Trining's Kitchen Stories, G. Fernando Avenue, Marikina City. For more information, check out Trining's Kitchen Stories' Facebook page.

Also read:
Trining's Is A Fine Tribute to An Ilocano Lola's Cooking
The SPOT.ph 50 Great Restaurants of 2024: Best of Manila and Beyond