At least two (2) Community pantries opened in the City of San Fernando, La Union after the Maginhawa Community Pantry from National Capital Region (NCR) went viral. Few residents from the City replicated the said initiative so they could help the residents amidst the CoViD-19 pandemic.

According to Loribeth-Ann Garcia, a resident from Barangay Dalumpinas Este who installed a community pantry in front of their house, she hopes that by their own simple way, they could create a ripple effect to help the community. “This is our 1st week, our family will have another batch next week, but in a different place. We plan to continue this every Sunday since we know that many are still trying to cope up with our present situation. We do hope that with our simple way, we can help. I was really inspired by the Maginhawa community pantry which has been viral in Facebook, so I thought of having it here first in my place and hoping it will have its ripple effect later on.”

Meanwhile, Nica Flores together with Florante Jubilo and Eric Go were also inspired by the Maginhawa Community Pantry so they have also established their own in Barangay Pagdaraoan. “Since araw araw po andami namin nakikita na dumadaan sa harap ng pwesto namin [na maraming] nagbebenta ng mga kung anu-ano na kahit matanda na sila eh nagsisikap pa din sila, kaya gusto namin talaga makatulong and [ma]share din po yung blessings namin at pasasalamat po sa Diyos.”

Community pantries aim to encourage people to drop off whatever food they could donate may it be vegetables, fruits, canned goods and other essential needs and those who cannot afford to buy their own only have to line up to get what they need for free.

The CoViD-19 pandemic continues to amplify the Bayanihan spirit and act of generosity amongst us. Indeed the solidarity that we have for our Pamilyang San Fernando is a manifestation of who we are in these uncertainties. For #SanFernandoAyAyatenKa and the attitude of unity, we can rise above CoViD-19.

(Photos from Nica Flores & Loribeth-Ann Garcia)