Poe wants Non, other pantry organizers recognized

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Grace Poe wants the Senate to recognize 26-year-old Ana Patricia Non and other volunteers who organized community pantries all over the country to help families affected by the pandemic.

Poe has filed Senate Resolution 714, which commended community pantry organizers “for igniting the bayanihan spirit of Filipinos” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Poe noted that despite the implementation of the government’s social amelioration program and livelihood assistance projects, “help seems scarce and hardly enough to provide food on the table of every Juan.”

The pandemic led to business closures, unemployment as well as rising incidence of hunger, Poe said.

“This propelled University of the Philippines alumna, Ana Patricia Non, to address hunger in her community by parking her bamboo cart filled with food items beside a tree along Maginhawa street, Quezon City bearing the now famous slogan: Magbigay ayon sa kakayahan, kumuha batay sa pangangailangan,” the resolution read.

Aside from giving food to the poor, the first community pantry encouraged kindness and compassion, reawakened the sense of solidarity among Filipinos and inspired others to do the same, Poe said.

She said the existence of more than 6,700 community pantries across the country show that one’s act of generosity could spark a movement and set in motion a phenomenon of giving and sharing.

The proliferation of community pantries is proof that the Filipino bayanihan spirit is alive and many Filipinos are still willing to help despite the pandemic, Poe said.