From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs— community pantries pop up in places around the metro in response to famine and unemployment amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the weekend, small food booths with the slogan “Magbigay ayon sa kakayahan, kumuha batay sa pangangailangan,” (Give what you can, take what you need) appeared in different places around Luzon.
A humble project that started in the street of Maginhawa, Quezon City, the “community pantry” allows people to donate and get food for free. As of this writing, there are already 17 booths listed in and out of Metro Manila.
In an interview, Ana Patricia Non, one of the minds behind the community pantry concept, explained the context of their project. “I was the one who set the pantry up, but this whole thing is actually a community effort. I am not going to take credit; the whole Maginhawa community helped me, they’re with me in this endeavour.”
“In the community pantry, everybody is free to come and go, whatever you have at home you could always leave it here, whatever you lack you could also take it [from] here. Everybody is free to help and there will be no judgement on how big or small someone’s going to take,” she explained.
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RESPONSE TO FAMINE AND UNEMPLOYMENT
In January 2021, it was estimated that four million Filipinos remain unemployed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The community pantry was put up as a collective action to alleviate hunger. “This is in response to famine. As you all know, the Philippines’ unemployment rate is [becoming] higher,” said Ana.
Ana added that one of the possible reasons why the project trended online is because a lot of Filipinos could relate to her ideals.
“I did not expect that this project would trend online because my initial thought was ‘this is a weird idea, no one would try to do this on their own,’ but then I realised, it went viral because a lot of Filipinos could relate—it is hard to think, study, and work when you’re hungry,” she said.
“The community pantry trended because of the scarcity of food and nutrition amid the pandemic,” she added.
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