Unbreakable: Adobo in Action
A one-day adobo pop-up in Historic Filipinotown, cooked from Apl's family recipe, raising typhoon relief for the Philippines.
One day only - December 5, 2020, timed to Giving Tuesday weekend. Apl's own Pineda family recipe, cooked at HiFi Kitchen. Proceeds directed to PeDRO, a nonprofit dedicated to Philippine typhoon relief. Held under pandemic conditions - takeout only, masked pickup, no gathering.
By late 2020, the Philippines had been hit by eight storms since October. Three were severe: Typhoon Molave, Super Typhoon Goni, and Typhoon Vamco. Millions lost power, more than 250,000 people were evacuated, and Luzon saw its worst flooding in years.
Nine thousand kilometers away, Filipino-American Los Angeles was in a pandemic winter with no way to gather.
So APLFI and HiFi Kitchen did what the moment allowed. For one day, the takeout café on Beverly Boulevard in Historic Filipinotown cooked adobo from Apl's family recipe - a tray for four, or an order for two - and sent the proceeds to typhoon relief.
That money went to PeDRO, a nonprofit already working on the ground. APLFI didn't route it through its own programs. The point was to get help where it was needed fastest.
Chef Justin Foronda ran the kitchen. Orders were placed online and picked up masked and distanced in a parking lot. Apl came out to meet the people collecting their food.
Diaspora communities send money home constantly, without ceremony. What a foundation can do is lower the barrier - until giving costs about what dinner costs.