The Teens for Unity, a mass movement within the Focolare Movement composed of teens, try to establish and maintain unity in their communities through concrete acts of love. This is an experience of some of them who are beneficiaries of a feeding program in the housing project of the Bukas Palad Foundation Inc. in Barangay Yati, Liloan, Cebu.
When we saw the Community Pantry initiative spreading in Manila in 2021, we, too, wanted to do our share by converting a donor’s financial contribution for us into an initial fund to start a community pantry so that many people can be helped. However, we were told that the contribution was not for that intention. In our desire to help others, we met together to understand how we could help people who were also in need like us.
Finally, an idea was born: #daretocare50%AlangKaninyo (For You) Project – a modified community pantry. Since our funds were limited, we agreed to offer goods like rice, meat, fish, chicken, canned goods, milk and very basic necessities at 50% off its usual price so that we could still have a revolving fund for the following months and not just consume the funds in one go.
This idea was accepted by those in the housing and we also opened it to our neighbors outside the housing area so they can avail of this help. They were happy of this initiative. So, every month, adults and youth get to work together – from purchasing the goods to repacking them – and this working together made us feel that we were becoming more united as a community. If some families could not pay, they would bring their veggies or decorative plants for the Bukas Palad Housing as their contribution.
We started with 20 families the first time, offering rice, pork, chicken and fish. By September 2023, we were already on our eighth batch where we reached 54 families.
There were times we wanted to give up, as it was not always easy because we had our modules to study, or we were not sure if we would have the money to buy goods for the next batch. But then we remembered the happy faces of the families every time we did it, so we went ahead by loving in this way. For us, it’s something more than just enjoying a Netflix movie or a pizza or spaghetti snack. It is Jesus who fills our hearts with a special joy because He said, “Whatever you do to the least, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40).
Later, we invited our neighbors who were recipients of our #daretocare50%AlangKaninyo Project to a simple gathering where we were able to share to them our lifestyle based on the Gospel, and how we live for universal brotherhood.
This experience of “Together, we dare to care!” through our community pantry has been an inspiration for others to venture into a similar undertaking.
Teens for Unity of Liloan (Cebu)
