Bayanihan Spirit Alive And Well As Filipino Community In The Midwest Responds To The Pandemic

Chicago, 16 April 2020 – The Filipino Community in the Midwest – through accredited organizations, restaurants and individuals – has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with an outpouring of the Bayanihan spirit as manifested in various projects and acts of kindness

Among these are numerous initiatives to give food to healthcare front liners, product and donate cotton face-masks, and donating relief goods to localities in the Philippines.

Filipino restaurants such as Chicken Ati-Atihan (Niles, Illinois), Mora Asian Kitchen (Oak Park and Bollingbrook, Illinois) and Meat on the Street (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), have been delivering Filipino food to essential healthcare workers in various hospitals in the Midwest. Chicken Ati-Atihan and Mora Asian Kitchen have been partnering with Filipino community organizations (e..g, Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Chicago, Philippine Independence Week Committee, Circa Pintig, Philippine American Cultural Foundation, Lion’s Club Chicago Mabuhay, Black Mamba Chicago JCC Rainbow Foundation, Filipino American National Historical Society, and National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) Illinois) to donate food to various hospitals in Greater Chicago. Meat on the Street been at the forefront of a GoFundMe, crowdsourcing initiative, Feed Our Frontline Hospital Staff MKE, in Milwaukee, which has raised almost $25,000 and has delivered more than 1,500 well-balanced and healthy meals to front liners mainly through Meat on the Street as food partner.

As shared by the Barangay Club of Indiana, the Filipino Community in Indiana has been producing and donating cotton face-masks. The community has also thanked the Filipino front liners in Indiana through a touching Facebook video and photo montage tribute.

In Michigan, the Filipino-American Community Council of Michigan (FILAMCCO), PACCM and FILAMCCO Foundation have joined hands to document the various humanitarian initiatives of the Filipinos in the state. These include donating food and medical supplies to hospitals, making home-made facial masks, tutoring schoolchildren during the stay-at-home order, provide relief goods to communities in the Philippines, Attached is the article enumerating the community’s initiatives in Michigan.

The Philippine Medical Association in Chicago (PMAC) has donated medical equipment and supplies to hospitals in the Philippines and a care package for needy families in the families. The Philippine Nurses Association – Greater Chicago Chapter and fellow nurses have been donating food to Illinois hospitals. The International Society of Filipinos in Finance and Acoounting (ISFFA) Chicago Chapter and other contributing donors from Chicago provided relief goods to pedicab drivers and their families in Karuhatan, Valenzuela.

The Philippine Consulate General in Chicago thanks the organizations and individuals who have contributed to the various humanitarian initiatives across the Midwest. END

Mr. Randy Famacion, owner of Chicken Ati-Atihan Niles with the diff erent Fil-Am
organizations and individuals donated food for the frontliners in Chicagoland.