Abundance. Community pantry. Lessons

Community Pantry should be enabled for its sustained presence toward a more equitable society. As it inspires and creates ripples for like-minded people to follow, the Community Pantry feeds the hungry—one poor soul at a time—and nourishes the innate nature of humans—one act of kindness at a time.

The Philippine version of Community Pantry is not an original. It is inspired by a scene of a large crowd that followed Jesus in a remote place. They went there for healing. The disciples wanted to send the crowd away so they could go to the villages and buy themselves some food. And Jesus didn’t allow the idea. With only five loaves and two fish, Jesus was able to feed 5,000 men, besides women and children. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. This event was documented at Matthew 14:13-21.

This biblical moment must have happened when a great leader influenced everyone to share what they had and realized that there is more than enough for everyone. This is the magical spirit of abundance—there is more than enough for everyone.

The same happens when a concerned community enjoined a small circle to share to the other members of the community. There was no photo opportunity, no media funfare, no government support and no intention to be popular. A street called “Maginhawa” became literally true to its name of giving comfort to those who need help. And the ripple of compassion and generosity brought the surge of the community pantries in countless streets guided by a simple mantra: “Magbigay ayon sa kakayanan at kumuha batay sa kailangan” (Give what you can, take what you need).

Ana Patricia Non, the creator of Maginhawa Community Pantry, admits in an interview that there are a few who would get more than what they should get. But she prescribes to delay judgment and understand the underlying circumstances behind the survivalmindset and behavior. Openness and kindness, according to her, may lead us to our better understanding of the dynamics of this relatively new concept to Filipinos.

And communities after communities are inspired by this act of sharing love, following its newsworthy features both in social and traditional media. There is already a Facebook page that serves as discussion venue for those who want to set up and operate community pantries, facilitating exchanges of best practices and experiences. Volunteers have come forward to provide services like digital mapping, online donation facility, logistical platforms and others. Rural farmers are seen sending their produce for the urban poor. The middle class and the rich found a way to give more meaning for their excesses found in their home pantries and refrigerators. It has inspired hope and popularized compassion and generosity.

Some politicians are expected to exploit the goodwill in the stories and hard sell their obvious agenda. Well, if they become helpful enough in crisis, the public may see some level of sincerity behind such early campaign propaganda—community pantry style. Exploitative entrepreneurs may also take advantage of seeing a need to fill for profit agenda. Well, social entrepreneurs achieve social purpose over profit. Some socio-civic organizations are expected to ride on the wave of giving love through a project and may embrace this to be more relevant beyond weekly meetings and picture-taking.

The community pantry now needs to secure a permit from local government. The Philippine National Police is watching over community pantries like potential propagandists and super-spreaders. But this government intervention gained criticism for obvious reason that these pantries are feeding people they should have fed. And if the government subsidy program has been effective, the community pantries would not have been needed at all. And, the baranwe gays should have been the initiators of these benevolent projects. The government may want to exercise its enabling role, rather than their regulatory power-tripping interventions, as usual.

Worst, the “community pantry,” that co-incidentally sounds like “communist party” has been redtagged. The slogan “Give what you can, take what you need” has been linked to “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” of Karl Martx, the author of the Communism Manifesto. Marxism is a social, political, and economic theory which focuses on the struggle between capitalists and the working class. Marx wrote that the power relationships between capitalists and workers were inherently exploitative and would inevitably create class conflict. There were background checks of Patricia for the co-incidental alignment of the action with a philosophy of the 18th century.

Beyond the act of generosity founded on abundance, and the government’s intervention founded on its mandate to protect the public, (and the paranoia derived from a wrong notion that what is not aligned with it must be anti-government), there are lessons that can be learned from this commendable initiative. Here are 10 of the many lessons: 1) Government isn’t always the solution. Government help may lead to dependency-mindset bridging sense of entitlement; while community initiatives lead to collaborative-mindset generating care among members of the community.

2) It is not always about giving or taking. It can be exchanging, which preserves the human dignity and self-worth. Even the poor who is in need is able to share something.

3) Money is not always the basis of all transaction. Goodwill is also a currency. Before money, barter was the human invention to exchange goods.

4) Necessity is the father of invention and the mother is compassion. With both parents, invention makes a difference and become more meaningful. These gave birth to social entrepreneurship.

5) Generosity is contagious. An act of kindness sells as news—contrary to what media believed, for the longest time, that only the bad news sells.

6) Scarcity happens when greed rules. And greed is insatiable. “The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed” as Mahatma Gandhi said.

7) Abundance is when there is enough for everyone. The top 10 richest people have enough resources to feed all the hungry. The top 10 Philippines’ richest persons have combined wealth worth $42.9 billion (P2.07 trillion), which, divided among 110 million Filipinos, gives P18,818.00 each.

8) This crisis does not create our character. It manifests and amplifies our character. If we are good, we become better. If we are bad, we become bitter.

9) If we can guide the poor into the understanding of what they need and teach them how to moderate it, they need not go to the politicians and sell their votes. Self-reliance comes from their self-perceived dignity.

10) Maginhawa is not anymore just a street. It is a Filipino Value and aspiration of generosity that makes life comfortable. It has footprints of abundance toward a better society— one street at a time.

Community Pantry need not be anchored on any written Philosophy. It is not intended to insult governments that should have invented it, after all, if they had limitations to provide for the poor. It should not elicit paranoia based on over-thinking of its impact and social value. Community Pantry should be enabled for its sustained presence toward a more equitable society. As it inspires and creates ripples for like-minded people to follow, the Community Pantry feeds—one poor at a time—and feeds the innate nature of humans—one act of kindness at a time.