#FilipinosFeedtheFrontlines want to go nationwide

SENOR SIGSIG

An employee at Senor Sigsig in San Francisco prepares meals for frontline workers.

It is common when you visit a Filipino household, you're greeted with "Have you eaten, yet?" followed by "Kain na!" (Let's eat!).

Aa in many cultures, food is central to Filipino culture and identity, so its no surprise when the coronavirus hit the U.S. the Filipino American community rallied around food to fend off the pandemic.

San Francisco's Kultivate Labs’ #FilipinosFeedTheFrontlines campaign has surpassed its initial goal of $100,000. After fundraising for a little over 100 days they’ve raised $101,512 from 1075 donors to feed frontline health workers, scientists, and San Francisco’s South of Market and Excelsior communities battling COVID-19. 

“With the help of over 1,000 donors from around the nation, we were able to hit our lofty goal of $100,000 to stabilize Filipino food businesses and send food to hard-hit communities and frontline health care workers," shares Desi Danganan, Kultivate Labs Executive Director.

"The only problem is that the crisis is not over. COVID-19 continues to decimate communities and the restaurant industry. 

"Our model of community stabilization works, so we’re going to scale it nationwide, to support Filipino American restaurants across the country, and their respective communities,” said Danganan.

The campaign has also helped bring nationwide awareness of the Fil-Am community’s contributions to the U.S healthcare industry and helped amplify the latest figures indicating that Filipino nurses account for almost 20% of registered nurses in California. At Seton Hospital in nearby Daly City, one of the largest medical facilities in Northern California, 60% of the employees are Filipino.

The campaign has also helped a dumber of fledgling Filipino-owned businesses who are able to keep their staff employed preparing the food.

“I am in awe of the SoMa Stabilization Fund’s grantees’ rapid response to the COVID-19 crisis. Within a week of the Shelter-in-Place order, Kultivate Labs partnered with other neighborhood community-based organizations like SOMCAN, West Bay and United Playaz to identify households that needed food delivery,” said Claudine del Rosario, Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development/SoMa Stabilization Fund Director.

“They’ve worked tirelessly to both support small local businesses, as well as serve the most vulnerable populations in our community. I’m incredibly grateful that we have leaders like Desi who are adept at leveraging City resources to help stabilize the community during this turbulent time.”

As the social distance rules and manadatory closure of dine-in restaurants continues, the Filipino-inspired program will continue and seek to expand in other parts of the country.

#FilipinosFeedtheFrontlines: Kultivate Labs is seeking partnerships with FilAm communities, restaurants, artists, and businesses across the United States to expand the program. For more information, or to make a donation, visit www.filipinosfeedthefrontlines.org.