Taking inspiration from the Maginhawa community pantry set up by AP Non, a youth-led organization launched "pantry bike," a mobile community pantry aims to provide free food and healthcare services to Filipinos in need.
Founded in 2019, Go Bike Project is a youth-led organization that provides healthcare and emergency response.
On Sunday, April 18, the group started to provide medical and emergency kits to residents of Pangasinan.
"Nung nakita namin yung concept ng Maginhawa community pantry, naisip namin na idagdag din ito sa aming mga bisikleta upang hindi lang namin natutulungan ang mga tao sa serbisyon medikal kundi makatulong din mairaos ang kumakalam na tiyan (When we saw the concept of Maginhawa community, we thought of doing the same, too so we could aid and feed those who are in need)," Go Bike Project Co-founder Edren Llanillo told the Manila Bulletin.
Llanillo said all 715 volunteers of the organization have received training from the Philippine Red Cross, local government unit, and Sangguniang Kabataan.
The organization distributes food from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
"Yung bike pantry po namin ay sa ibang upang doon naman ang sunod na maikutan ng aming pantry (We pass our bike pantry to another barangay so our pantry will be able to service other barangays too)," he added.
Llanillo said their bike pantry was received well by the public.
"Tuwang-tuwa sila dahil may mga ganitong initiative na ginagawa ang mga kabataan (They are very happy because there are initiatives such as this that young people have started)," he said.
"Since kilala talaga ng aming mga volunteer ang community members nila per madali po naming nalalaman kung sino po talaga yung nangangailangan ng tulong (Since our volunteers really know their community members per barangay, it's much easier for us to identify who really needs help)," Llanillo continued.
In 2020, Go Bike Project launched the "Ronda Kalusugan Program," in which they give free blood pressure monitoring and blood pressure testing to residents.