It has been a year and half since the Covid19 pandemic started in the Philippines, and the number of Filipinos infected by the virus continues to increase dramatically. For the past 2 months, daily new cases have reached the five digit mark with 1 in 3 persons infected. As the Covid19 cases continue to rise, the communities are forced to implement strict quarantine measure that have affected livelihoods, income, and how Filipinos are able to access food.
The most affected by these strict quarantine measures are the daily wage earners such as construction workers, service providers, domestic helpers who were unable to work because of disruption to the public transportation or entry restrictions in the location where they work.
This is where community pantries come in.
Tahanan ng Ama Community Pantry located in Barangay Tuntungin-Putho in Los Baňos, Laguna, Philippines. This community pantry is managed by Sister Laura Chavez, better known as Sister Lau.
When Sister Lau started her community pantry, she catered to small number of households. As more households were losing their income, Tahanan ng Ama's pantry fed more families in over 1000 households. At the height of the community pantry movement, several members of the community provided fresh vegetables from local farmers, together with a few sacks of rice.
With enough support, Tahanan ng Ama will be able to serve and provide assistance to the most vulnerable families in its community, while instilling values formation. Since the community is also prone to calamities that may be brought about by extreme weather, such as typhoons and heavy rainfall that may cause landslides and floods, residents are forced to evacuate. When this happens, the community should be ready to provide some form of assistance and that is what Tahanan ng Ama sets out to do. It is therefore important to sustain the community pantry of Tahanan ng Ama.
To read more, visit our blog: Community Pantry Beyond The Pandemic
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