A Growing Movement for Hope amidst the Health Crises

Written on a simple cardboard along with a small bamboo cart containing groceries, there lies a sign of hope in the height of the global health crisis that continues to devastate communities. It is a sign that sparks a growing movement, not only in the Philippines but across the globe.

In the Philippines, we faced a growing health crisis as the COVID-19 pandemic pushes millions of Filipinos into poverty. Hunger, a persistent concern in the country, has become exponentially worse in the face of the pandemic. News circulated on how Filipinos beg for food to fill up their stomach and to feed their families. We've seen the outcry of the masses for financial and food aid as it is not enough to sustain their needs under a lockdown or community quarantine.

During the summer of 2021, it can be remembered as the time where the phrase above can be seen in signs all over the Philippines. The sign directs people to what is locally and globally known as a community pantry.

A Spark of Hope

Community pantries have been sprouting all over the Philippines to help those in need. It started with only a handful of groceries and essentials that gave a spark of hope to the residents of Maginhawa Street, Quezon City. Surely, in times of need, hope simply comes from people coming together to help each other.

The movement sparked on the 14th of April 2021 spearheaded by Ana Patricia Non. She started a makeshift pantry with a bamboo cart and two cardboards signs. The Maginhawa Community Pantry has its purpose to build a community that will give and take by their own volition, without the intervention of third parties. Non first stocked the pantry with vegetables she bought from nearby vendors, along with basic necessities from the grocery such as alcohol, face masks, canned goods, and rice.

The pantry became a big hit and attracted residents from San Vicente, Pook Marilag, Sikatuna Village, and UP Campus, among other areas. It went viral online and garnered a lot of media coverage. The first community pantry in Maginhawa is now a hub that distributes donations to other pantries as well. And people all over the country started adapting Non’s community pantry model to help and give hope to the communities in their respective areas.

“Pagod na akong magreklamo, pagod na ako sa inaction." This is the answer of Patreng Non as people ask how and why she started the pantry. She put her faith in community action and respects what community members could contribute and take.

Growing Bayanihan Spirit

The Bayanihan, which is a Filipino custom that traverses way back to our ancient time, was brought back to life through the community pantry. It is a custom and a Filipino value which means working together as a community in achieving a common goal. With the community pantry, the goal this time is to feed the mouths of our fellow Filipinos and be a part of hope in this time of adversity.

Filipinos all over the country joined hands to build their own community pantry in their respective areas to assist the ones in need by providing them with some food to eat in their day-to-day life. The Bayanihan spirit is alive as the community pantry also paves way for the ones who have more than what they have to give back to the community by providing and giving food, money, and any other necessities to the established pantry.

A lot of heart warming stories have been made through the growing movement for even Filipinos, who were heavily affected by the unemployment and poverty because of the pandemic, give what they have to also help fellow Filipinos.

We faced a double health crisis; hunger and the COVID-19 pandemic. But amidst these adversities, the Filipino trait of working together and helping each other can always be felt. A spark of hope always rises in times of darkness. And because of the growing community pantry movement, it is no wonder why the bayanihan spirit among Filipinos is alive and well.