Gawad Kalinga (GK) ("to give care" in
Tagalog) is a Philippine
poverty alleviation
Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation, is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty.
Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics clas ...
and
nation-building movement known officially as the Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation.
Its mission is to end poverty for 5 million families by 2024.
History
In 1999,
Couples for Christ (CFC) built the first GK house for the Adduru family from
Bagong Silang
Bagong Silang or Barangay 176 is a barangay of Caloocan, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is known for being the most populous barangay in the Philippines, with a population of 261,729 according to the 2020 census. It is also the northernmost bar ...
, a
barangay
A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolita ...
in which the organization had previously held poverty programs. The name "Gawad Kalinga", which translates in the
Filipino language
Filipino (; , ) is an Austronesian language. It is the national language ( / ) of the Philippines, and one of the two official languages of the country, with English. It is a standardized variety of Tagalog based on the native dialect, sp ...
either as "to give care" or "to award care," was coined in 2000.
Isang Milyong Bayani
On February 25, 2006, GK launched the Isang Milyong Bayani ("One Million Heroes", also known as GK1MB) program, where volunteers from various nations would donate 4 hours of work per month to assist in GK communities. The program includes an annual event called the GK1MB Bayani Challenge, a one-week national immersion/build activity, where volunteers within the program come together to build homes in a GK community for a week. The Bayani Challenge has been held in
Aurora Province and
Quezon Province
Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon ( tl, Lalawigan ng Quezon), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Kalilayan was the first known name of the province. It was later renamed Tayabas. In honor of the ...
(2006);