AT least 700 street kids will dine in the gymnasium of the Pope John XXIII Seminary on Saturday, January 23, a day before the International Eucharistic Congress.
Fr. Carmelo Diola, chairman of the IEC solidarity and communion committee, said five pieces of lechon (roasted pig), rice, cake and pancit (sauteed noodles) will be served to the kids at a luncheon called the Table of Hope sponsored by the Archdiocese of Vancouver.
Fr. Diola said the kids were chosen from the poorest of the poor.
They will be clustered by tables after a Mass that will start at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
In a separate press briefing, Fr. Joseph Larida told reporters that the lunch will make the streetkids feel that they are also part of the event.
Fr. Larida said those who will be unable to attend the closing Mass at the South Road Properties (SRP) on January 30 can light a candle wherever they are for the success of the IEC in Cebu City.
Senior Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas, head security of Task Group Cebu, said that as much as possible, the police will not be rounding up kids from the street.
For his part, Acting Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella appealed to 2Go Shipping Lines yesterday to allow the city government to extend the use of the 120 shipping containers from the Sinulog
Devotee City to house pilgrims from towns outside of Cebu City during the IEC.