One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. And for some, one corporation’s trash may just feed hungry people needing help. For Geely Philippines, it was their dismantled tarpaulins that fed 600 people.
How’d Geely Philippines feed that many people with just tarpaulins? Well, the story is a bit longer and more complicated than that. The company was approached by fisherfolk from Paobong, Bulacan, who needed construction materials to repair and rebuild their fisheries that get damaged due to weather and other factors. But because of the pandemic, money was tight, though the fisherfolk had plenty of fish to give (around 120 kilos in fact) in lieu of monetary compensation.
“Catch basin po kasi ang lugar namin. ‘Yung tarpaulin po kasi ang magsisilbing proteksyon sa lupa sa tabi ng ilog para hindi ‘to gumuho papunta sa ilog tuwing umuulan. Tuwing gumuguho kasi ‘yung lupa, malaki ang nalulugi sa kabuhayan namin at ng iba pa naming mga kapitbahay,” Wheng Clemente, the fisherfolk from Bulacan said.
Geely Philippines agreed and took the 120 kilos of fish to Walang Iwanan Alliance, Kawa Pilipinas, and Heaven’s Touch Cuisine—charity groups that organize feeding programs in the Philippines. This allowed the charitable institutions to cook food for 600 people in Pasay and Manila a few days before the country re-imposed general community quarantine to the capital and surrounding areas.
“It’s a win-win-win solution for everybody. Win because we get to recycle, support our local fish farmers, and at the same time give back to the community during these hard times,” Marketing Manager Ryan Isana said.
Geely Philippines’ little act of kindness turned into something bigger, and eventually fed 600 people. Truly, no act of kindness, no matter how small, is never wasted. The qualities of kindness, resilience, and good brotherliness, which are easy to practice, would see us through in these trying times. The great Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” The pandemic is not just a public health crisis, it is also a human crisis that calls for unity.
