A glimmer of hope from AllDay Supermarket
The Villar-led supermarket chain opened its doors to a group of displaced workers for a chance to bring home some P10,000 worth of grocery items
At a time when many are struggling with earning a living and barely making ends meet due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a little help can go a long way.
AllDay Supermarket recently concluded its second Hakot Challenge for the year. This time around, its focus was to help workers from the informal sector who were adversely affected by the pandemic.
The Villar-led supermarket chain opened its doors to a group of displaced workers for a chance to bring home some P10,000 worth of grocery items. Among the 10 participants in the two-minute grocery run were jeepney driver Manuel Reneva; Ramon Kristoffer Chautico, 38, who lost his job in a spa; Mercy Aristol, who works as a laundress; and 23-year-old Rayson Diaz, a striving student who also serves as his family’s breadwinner.
“This is really a big blessing. I thank AllDay and all the staff for helping me while I put groceries on the carts,” Reneva shared in Filipino. He was able to take home four sacks of rice which he said would be enough to feed his family for the next four months. The 64-year-old jeepney driver also made sure to get powdered milk for his grandchild and 3-in-1 coffee packs and other food items to last them a few weeks.
For Mercy Aristol, the AllDay Hakot Challenge was an answered prayer. Working as a laundress, she got fewer calls for the service during the lockdowns. Her partner, meanwhile, earns as a “mangangalakal,” collecting used plastic bottles and metal scraps which he sells to a junk shop. She recounted how she, her partner and their children would sleep off their hunger on some nights.
When her turn at the grocery run came, the first items that Aristol placed in her cart were soft pillows and slippers for her children. “We do not have pillows, that’s why I got them,” Aristol explained. She has been meaning to get pillows to at least provide some comfort for her kids while sleeping at night.
Aristol got sacks of rice to assure her family of food for the next few
days. She included some milk and chocolates for two of her three children. She lamented having to send her other child who has autism to the province, where the kid can be better cared for by Aristol’s parents.
“Laban lang (Just keep on fighting),” is 23yearold Diaz’s battle cry. The eldest of five children, he was forced to stop schooling at 14 to do menial jobs for his family after his parents separated. Today, he is striving to finish his secondary education through the Department of Education’s Alternative Learning System (ALS).
“I needed to work to be able to provide for my siblings. I worked before as a construction worker, and (did) other menial jobs, but the opportunities dwindled when the pandemic struck. We are really having a hard time now,” Diaz disclosed.
From the All Day Hakot Challenge, he went home with two sacks of rice, cans of sardines and instant noodles. Since it was the 48th birthday of his father, Diaz also made sure to get packs of pansit (birthday noodles) for their simple celebration. “That’s enough for our daily sustenance,” Diaz told the AllDay team. “This is a very big help for our family.”
“Sometimes, some help goes a long way for others who are in need. No matter how small or how big, it makes a difference,” said Camille Villar, president of AllValue, AllDay’s parent company. “More than anything, it gives them hope. It makes them feel that they are not alone.”
For his part, AllValue chairman Manuel B. Villar Jr. said extending a helping hand is the good thing to do.
“We are all affected by the pandemic... even our businesses are. But we all strive to work harder and be better. We do the same for our less fortunate brothers and sisters, we try to help them,” he added.