Published April 24, 2021, 3:30 PM
One of the heart-warming scenes witnessed by community pantry organizers in Marikina City was seeing tears of joy from people who can hardly make ends meet amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Drawing inspiration from the Maginahawa Community Pantry, a group of young professionals in Marikina City came together for a noble cause to build a community pantry for those who can no longer put food on their plates.
Cedric John Moneda, a web developer, and his friends Peter Ortiz, RJ Fe Guzman, and Shekinah Argudo started the Marikina Community Pantry located in Barangay Marikina Heights. All of them are in their 20’s.
What the community pantry movement means for Filipinos
Written by Juli Suazo
enablePagination: false Ana Patricia Non, the woman behind the Maginhawa Community Pantry. Photo courtesy of ANJO LAPRESCA
On a hot and scorching Wednesday afternoon, Ana Patricia Non walked along the streets of Maginhawa to find a spot that is both accessible and able to withhold sizable foot traffic. Somewhere in front of a Romantic Baboy and Ministop, she approached the owners of the place where she used to buy vegetables and requested permission to use the space for a community pantry. When it was granted, she rushed home to collect her already-packed goods, called for a tricycle, and quickly made her way back. She set up a bamboo cart along Maginhawa Street and stocked it with rice, vegetables, milk, vitamins, face masks, canned goods, soap and other essentials.