The magic of the first community pantry in Maginhawa continues to spread, with some celebrities also pitching their share to keep the spirit of solidarity alive.
In BF Northwest in Parañaque, actress Gabbi Garcia spearheaded a community pantry in front of the barangay hall that bears the same slogan as all the other people-led pantries across the country: “magbigay ayon sa kakayahan, kumuha batay sa pangangailan (give what you can, take what you need).”
In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Garcia posted photos of the pantry together with the people who contributed to it. In the caption, she thanked her “small community” and everyone who dropped by for pitching in for the pantry, and urged all the community pantries to “keep going” and Filipinos to “keep working together.”
Stocked with sacks of rice, vegetables, and other local produces, the pantry especially offers its goods to “security guards, kuya riders, construction workers,” all of whom the actress thanks for their untiring service.
Meanwhile, as her special way of celebrating her 36th birthday, actress Angel Locsin has also pledged to start a community pantry by herself that’s patterned after the original Maginhawa community pantry.
In an Instagram post on Thursday, the “real-life Darna” informed her followers that she will be opening a community pantry at the corner of Holy Spirit Drive and Don Matias Street in Quezon City. It will be open from 10 AM to 4 PM or until supplies last. She also encouraged attendees to bring their own bags to lessen waste.
“Bilang pagpupugay sa bayanihan ng mga Pilipino at sa mga nagtayo ng mga community pantries sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng bansa natin, I decided to celebrate my birthday tomorrow by putting up a community pantry,” Locsin wrote under the post.
The first community pantry in Maginhawa, launched by a concerned citizen named Ana Patricia Non, was borne out of the government’s “inaction” to deliver basic goods to the masses. Fueled by the community’s spirit to help one another, more than 150 community pantries have since sprung in different parts of the country, bearing the same message of donating what you can for the needy, and taking what you need while leaving enough for the next person.
