Boldr is raising funds for Community Pantries initiative in the Philippines. To learn more about this initiative, read below. To support, please go to our fundraising campaign through GoFundMe.
Watch our CEO & Founder David Sudolsky’s message:
It’s 6:00 AM in Quezon City. While the rest of Metro Manila is still waking up to a new day, John Adolfo and his friends have already set up a small stand at the corner of K-H and Kamias road after being inspired by the Maginhawa Community Pantry. Every morning, John and his group, the J’s Project, manage the community pantry just a few hundred meters from some of the slum areas nearby.
From manning the pantry every day, John has witnessed wonderful acts of kindness that has kept their community pantry afloat. He encountered Kuya Romeo, a street dweller who visits the pantry daily and gave mangoes despite not having much himself.
Another elderly woman gave a sack of garlic in exchange for just two packs of noodles for her grandchildren. “Our hearts are crying with joy! This is what ‘Give according to your ability’ means,” John writes in one of his online posts.
The Kamias Community Pantry is only one out of more than a thousand pantries that have popped up in the Philippines and even globally. The phenomenon grew out of the Filipino spirit of bayanihan or helping out the community and those in need.
The Philippines is currently under the world’s longest lockdowns and has been since March of 2020. This prolonged lockdown exacerbated by the closure of businesses and the lack of meaningful government support has caused many daily wage workers and families to lose their livelihoods. Most of these families are left with little to no economic options or alternatives to survive.
As of February 2021, over four million Filipinos are considered unemployed due to indefinite lockdowns.
Stirred by compassion for her fellow Filipinos, a young furniture designer named Ana Patricia Non initiated the first community pantry in Maginhawa, Quezon City. The pantry operates on an honesty basis by accepting and giving out in-kind donations in the form of grocery items in a bamboo cart outside her home. The principle upon which the community pantries are anchored is: Give what you can, get what you need (In Filipino: Magbigay ayon sa kakayahan. Kumuha batay sa pangangailangan.)
Filipinos were inspired and quick to pick up what Ana Patricia started – the small cart in the middle of Maginhawa street became a massive movement that was replicated even outside of the country. As of May 3, there are over 1,053 recorded Community Pantries nationwide run and sustained by local volunteers, donors, and civic organizations with the sole purpose to provide struggling Filipino families with their daily needs.
Raising funds for community pantries
Boldr is proud to be part of this growing Philippine community. After witnessing several Boldr team members support these Community Pantries, we realized that we need to raise the collective, global, awareness of such grassroots initiatives. These initiatives, while humble in origin, have had a profound impact in the Philippines as it provides relief to communities and families struggling to meet their daily needs.
We aspire for Boldr to be a platform for impact. If you feel called to support, you are welcome to donate directly through our GoFundMe page. If you are a Client of ours and your Company would like to show support, we can include a donation line item in your next Boldr invoice.
We will channel all financial contributions made from donors to the Community Pantries in the Philippines that need the most support, particularly in cities and localities with the highest concentration of unemployed daily wage workers.
In addition to providing funds, Boldr is actively supporting these pantries as well by the following means:
- Setting up their own community pantries or volunteering to manage community pantries
- Supporting the delivery and logistics of getting the supplies to the pantries that need replenishing
- Conducting needs assessment of pantries based on the state of the local community
- Working with other volunteer and civic groups to consolidate and disseminate donations
Boldr will share an Impact Report that details how the proceeds from this fund-raising initiative were distributed. Any contributor will receive an update within 2 weeks of the funds being distributed. If you’d like to receive a copy of our Impact Report please email us here: impact@boldrimpact.com
Relevant Links:
- Saan May Community Pantry? map
- Food pantries spread in the Philippines as COVID-19 restrictions bite
- Community pantries offer reprieve from covid-19 hardships in the Philippines
- What the community pantry movement means for Filipinos
- Community Pantry Efforts In Metro Manila Prove Modern-Day Bayanihan
