Fans and followers of Bela Padilla answered her crowdfunding call for the street vendors of Metro Manila affected by the community quarantine to stop the spread of COVID-19 and showcased how the Filipino Bayanihan spirit truly shines in times of adversities.
During the quarantine period declared on March 16, 2020, over the entire Luzon island, people are ordered to stay indoors, most office works were shifted to home-based, malls were shut, and public transportation was suspended to minimize the spread of coronavirus disease. Only frontliners from the medical workforce, military, and media are allowed to roam the quarantine area.
Bela Padilla’s response was to set up an account on the same day in GoGetFunding, a crowdfunding website, with an initial target of Php 1 million and planned to run for a few weeks.
Padilla’s GoGetFunding account read: “During this inevitable pandemic, there will be a lot of Filipinos who won’t be able to rely on their normal sources of income.
“Our favorite taho, dirty ice cream and banana cue vendors won’t be able to secure enough money to guarantee food for their families at the end of the day for one month until our community quarantine is over.
“Let’s look out for them please and donate what we can and lets split the money we raise 16 ways for the 16 cities of Metro Manila affected by this temporary lockdown.”
Padilla, the lead actress On Vodka, Beers and Regrets, announced the fundraising drive through her social media accounts.
“The best solution I came up with is for us to donate,” Bela posted on her Twitter. “I set up an account, and whatever money we do raise, let’s split 16 ways for the 16 cities of Metro Manila affected by this community quarantine. I will personally see to it that the money we raise will go to the right people.”
By March 17, the actress’ crowdfunding call had reached the Php 1 million mark. Padilla expressed her gratitude to all those who shared their time, effort and money for the fundraising for the less fortunate.
“We hit the target of 1,000,000 pesos!!!!” the Filipino-British actress told her Twitter followers. “Thank you!!! Looking for the best deals for food now and hopefully be able to deliver everything this week! THANK YOU.”
Fellow actor and restaurateur Marvin Agustin also expressed support to Bela’s advocacy and offered assistance.
“Hi Bela. I can open one of my kitchens, let’s look for cooks or chefs who can volunteer,” Marvin said in reply to Bela’s Twitter post. “That way we can make more food. This an inexpensive approach so you can provide more food. Let me know.”
Due to overwhelming support from the public, the 28-year-old Kapamilya actress decided to close the online fundraising drive which has reached Php 1.37 million by March 18.
“I will close the gogetfunding page at midnight later so I can compute exactly how much food we can donate! Again thank you! And we still have 4&1/2 hours to keep on donating.”
However, support from the public did not stop there.
In her tweet today, March 18, Bela announced that her crowdfunding drive has reached more than Php 3 million after someone donated Php 2 million.
“I was just woken up by a call,” Bela shared on her Twitter account. “Somebody donated 2 million pesos. We are now at 3.3M pesos.”
https://twitter.com/padillabela/status/1240079540283559936
The actress is now working on how to hand the donations to the urban poor.
“Today is all about organizing. Quick thank yous to all the people willing to help so far. Pia Campos, Matteo Guidicelli, Anton Capistrano (I am relying heavily on your trucks right now Loudly crying face🙏🏻) Landers grocery, Ligo Sardines. THANK YOU.
Other individuals and institutions are doing their share in helping the COVID-19 patients, the medical frontliners, and the police and military force in this time of global health crisis.
Restaurants in Quezon City have opened doors for healthcare personnel and university scientists for free and unlimited cups of coffee as their way of support as more restaurants followed suit by donating meals and snacks to the doctor and nurses in different hospitals in Metro Manila.
free and unlimited cup of coffee
donating meals and snacks
A group of students from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, on the other hand, designed easy-setup sanitation tents which can be used by the local government unit in their respective area for free. UP, as well as De La Salle University, and Ateneo de Manila University are also actively assisting the medical workforce through prayers, donations, and fundraising drive.
Moreover, Filipino-American teen basketball trainer Ryan Ang from New Jersey in the U.S.A. continues to hone the skills of young players and encourages them to be productive while community quarantine is in effect through his basketball online training sessions.
In South Korea, Nash Ang started the Pinoy Seoul Radio online with a social distancing campaign to keep OFWs safe.
Bigger institutions such as the SM Group has pledged to spend Php 100 million pesos for the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPEs) and medical supplies of healthcare workers in the Philippine General Hospital and (PGH) and Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
SEND CHEERS in the comments below to Bela Padilla for her initiative in raising funds to feed and assists the poor of Metro Manila during this time of community quarantine to stop the spread of COVID-19!
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