COMMUNITY PANTRIES SPROUT IN COUNTRY AMIDST PANDEMIC

A community pantry that was first launched by a resident in Quezon City six days ago has already sprouted in different parts of the country and further highlighted the Filipino solidarity (bayanihan) amid the lingering COVID-19 crisis.

Farmers, fishermen, teachers, youth leaders, members of the church, among other sectors of the society, started chipping in to set up community pantries.

Ana Patricia Non started the charity work by setting up a bamboo rack packed with basic necessities on Maginhawa St. last week.

“I’m glad that people are continuing the community pantry and I appreciate the response from the public,” Non said in CNN interview Monday.

“At the same time, I felt a bit sad because perhaps, they set up their own pantries because of the needs of their fellow in their communities,” she added. “Hunger and poverty are not an isolated case in the Philippines.”

Randy Calumag, a farmer from Paniqui, Tarlac, earned praises a er donating some of his sweet potatoes to pantries on Maginhawa St. and other parts of Metro Manila.

Fishermen from Binangonan, Rizal also donated more than 50 kilos of their freshly caught fish to another pantry in Quezon City despite their own struggles to survive the pandemic.

“Bagama’t kailangan ding kumita, hindi bigat, kundi pakikipagkaisa sa kapwa naghihirap ang nangibabaw sa isipan ng mga mangingisdang nagbahagi ng kanilang huli sa mga community pantry,” Pamalakaya, the fishermen’s group, said in a statement.

Two public school teachers also partnered with youth group Caloocan Young Leaders Initiative (CYLI) to launch their own pantry in Caloocan City that will run until April 30.

They got the support of the Catholic Church, which offered the vicinity of San Roque Cathedral to set up their pantry staring Sunday, which has since accommodated more than 100 individuals.

Tally made by some social media users showed there are already at least 145 community pantries in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Photos on social media on Monday showed some individuals lining up as early 6 a.m. for the Maginhawa pantry which has since never run out of stocks, thanks to pouring donations.

“Lawakan po ‘yung pag-intindi, buksan po ‘yung puso at isipan, kasi iba iba po ‘yung struggle ng mga tao. Hindi natin alam sino nawalan ng trabaho (Let’s open our hearts and minds and understand that people have different struggles),” Non said.