By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
DESPITE supply chain challenges and widespread water shortages, World Central Kitchen is continuing to deliver thousands of meals a day across Saipan, Tinian, and Rota following the devastation of Super Typhoon Sinlaku.
World Central Kitchen, often referred to as WCK, is an international emergency food relief organization founded by chef José Andrés. The group specializes in providing fresh, hot meals to communities immediately after disasters such as hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, conflicts, and other crises. Its model is fast, local, and community-driven, working with local restaurants, volunteers, and organizations to prepare and distribute meals where they are needed most.
Chika Kondo, community outreach manager for World Central Kitchen, said the organization began feeding residents even before staff arrived in the Commonwealth.
“World Central Kitchen is an emergency food relief organization. We work with communities to feed communities, to make sure that people have meals right after a disaster hits,” Kondo said. “Our whole goal is to be first on the front lines… We had folks feeding already from last Thursday.”
WCK teams are operating on all three islands, coordinating with local governments, nonprofit groups, and volunteers to distribute hot meals, sandwiches, water, and ice to families in the hardest-hit areas. More than 30 restaurant partners are preparing meals daily, and Kondo said more than 10,000 meals were distributed in a single day this week.
On Rota, teachers are conducting welfare checks and meal deliveries with support from Mayor Aubrey Hocog. In Tinian, WCK is working with disability rights group Team Koka and Mayor Edwin Aldan’s office, including a public distribution site at Tinian Elementary School. On Saipan, volunteers from the Lions Club, Natibu, the Micronesia Climate Change Alliance, and local scout groups are staffing distribution points and checking on residents.
Water access remains one of the most urgent concerns, particularly in Kagman, and Kondo said procurement delays are affecting supplies. WCK is coordinating closely with the Red Cross, Team Rubicon, and the CNMI Emergency Operations Center to reach vulnerable households.
“Many people have now gone almost a whole week, over a week now, without power and without water,” Kondo said. “We’re hoping that a hot meal can bring a little bit of warmth, but also some hope.”
WCK is directing potential volunteers to its portal at volunteers.wck.org but is not currently seeking large-scale volunteer turnout.
Kondo said the response has highlighted the resilience of the Marianas.
“We are so grateful to be working with so many wonderful people and seeing how the community is coming together,” she said.
WCK operations remain active across Saipan, Tinian, and Rota as recovery efforts continue.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
