"Magbigay ayon sa Kakayahan, Kumuha batay sa Pangangailangan."
A simple rule but with a good cause. An ordinary citizen like Ms. Ana Patricia Non is truly an inspiration by many Filipinos most especially ordinary citizens who were affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her simple initiative of creating a "community pantry" on a sidewalk within Maginhawa street in Quezon City where the main purpose of the cause is to offer a little way of help through giving and sharing in-kind such as canned goods, instant noodles, fruits & vegetables, rice and other primary sources of food that easily needed by people most especially those who were affected by the pandemic. It reminds me of the Gospel readings of Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:31-44; Luke 9:12-17; & John 6:1-14 or the "Feeding of Five Thousand" (miracle of the five loaves and two fish), where Jesus made miracles by means of using five loaves and two fishes supplied by a boy to feed a multitude of people.
This kind of action again awakens on the mind of the Filipinos that the true spirit of "Bayanihan" still remains in our hearts despite the challenges that we've all facing.
The word "pantry" is not already a new term that we always hear from our ears. A pantry is a room where beverages, food, and sometimes dishes, household cleaning chemicals, linens, or provisions are stored. It derives from the same source as the Old French term "paneterie"; that is from pain, the French form of the Latin panis, "bread". Since the late Middle ages, people most especially those living in the United States and even in Europe were already doing this kind of practice. It starts with putting food storage in separate rooms for various food service functions. Pantries were mostly located in a single place where the kitchen is nearby. . A pantry was where bread was kept and food preparation associated with it was done. The head of the office responsible for this room was referred to as a pantler. There were similar rooms for storage of bacon and other meats (larder), alcoholic beverages (buttery) (known for the "butts" of barrels stored there), and cooking (kitchen).
In the United States during the colonial era, pantries evolved from early Colonial American "butteries", built in a cold north corner of a Colonial home (more commonly referred to and spelled as "butt'ry"), into a variety of pantries in self-sufficient farmsteads. Butler's pantries, or china pantries, were built between the dining room and kitchen of a middle-class English or American home, especially in the latter part of the 19th into the early 20th centuries. Great estates, such as the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina or Stan Hywet Hall in Akron, Ohio, had large warrens of pantries and other domestic "offices", echoing their British "Great House" counterparts.
By the Victorian era, large houses and estates in Britain maintained the use of separate rooms, each one dedicated to a distinct stage of food preparation and cleanup. The kitchen was for cooking, while the food was stored in a storeroom, pantry, or cellar. Meat preparation before cooking was done in a larder (remember that often in these large houses game would come in undressed, fish unfilleted, and meat in half or quarter carcasses), and vegetable cleaning and preparation would be done in the scullery. Dishwashing was done in a scullery or butler's pantry, "depending on the type of dish and level of dirt". Since the scullery was the room with running water, it had a sink, and it was where the messiest food preparation took place, such as cleaning fish and cutting raw meat. The pantry was where tableware was stored, such as china, glassware, and silverware. If the pantry had a sink for washing tableware, it was a wooden sink lined with lead, to prevent chipping the china and glassware while they were washed. In some middle-class houses, the larder, pantry, and storeroom might simply be large wooden cupboards, each with its exclusive purpose.
Like an unusual way of keeping your food storage in one single place, just like putting and getting out from the fridge, this idea & concept literally comes from the mind of a 26th-year-old lady from Maginhawa to put up an idea on what particular way that she can offer help and address the needs of the less fortunate people in this time of the pandemic. By this, she comes up with an idea to put a small stall bamboo cart on a nearby sidewalk where she put fruits, vegetables, and other primary needs of the people to relieve from hunger. Later, dozens of donations from other people most especially from the private sector offer their precious time to offer & help by means of sharing their excess food resources with other people. They put their excess goods in the cart where the organizer placed the goodies on which people easily pick as much as they can be based on their needs. This simple & noble purpose causes a wide impact on the masses, and even the community itself. This noble cause organized at Maginhawa street where it all originated & started, had its branches. After the post on social media went viral, different community pantries were also organized inspired by the community pantry that originated at Maginhawa Street. They have their own version of community pantries in different places of the country on which organized by groups and even individuals as well in order to address the needs of others for those in need, the jobless, and the poorest of the poor at these very difficult times.
For me, as a former church servant and a parish worker, this noble cause initiated by Ms. Non makes me feel inspired, happy, and even emotional whenever I see these things on the news that these ordinary people doing very good deeds on helping one another at this time of the pandemic. Everyone's people can relate to this and even myself. I remember those times during my church service where we organized a cause as one of the programs by the parish to give relief goods, organizing a fun run, feeding the children, and giving assistance for the less fortunate people most especially those who lived far away from their town or city.
As Jesus said on his disciples on the "Parable of the Sower" in the gospel of Matthew states:
without understanding it,
and the Evil One comes and steals away
what was sown in his heart.
The seed sown on rocky ground
is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But he has no root and lasts only for a time.
When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
he immediately falls away.
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
and it bears no fruit.
But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
- Matthew 13:18-23
On rising of these community pantries organized by different citizens in different parts of the country, some people may say that this kind of initiative is not a "treat" for the government's insufficient response on addressing the needs of the people this pandemic but this simple initiative cause organized by Ms. Non is truly a "gifted to give", where she didn't hesitate to offer her help to others. Her KINDNESS and GENEROSITY prove that in this world, there are still plenty of ordinary people with a good heart. It is a timing also that this act of kindness showed by Ms. Non is very appropriate that also incorporates its theme for this year's celebration for the 500 Years of Christianity here in the Philippines: "Gifted to Give". The ability to "Give according to Ability, Get according to Need." definitely emphasizes the TRUE SPIRIT OF BAYANIHAN.
I hope that this simple noble cause can also be an inspiration to everyone that in a little way of help; that DON'T BE HESITANT to offer and render your help to others. Cause, in the end, we Filipinos are the only ones who can easily help each other.
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