CDO Partnered with Let’s Eat Pare Members

IF A 10 YEAR OLD KID CAN DO IT, EVERYBODY CAN.

 It all started when Mielyn Araujo of CDO, organized family and friends to distribute goods to tricycle drivers in the neighborhood affected by the quarantine, and she didn’t want to stop there. As a weekend entrepreneur with her own Oh Mie! salsa business, she approached CDO and asked if the company can donate CDO and San Marino food products for the volunteer LEP kitchens, to help them serve packed meals to frontliners. CDO immediately agreed and today Mie is the front runner for this feeding program, making over 6,000 meals possible after only two weeks, and targeting to serve 50,000 meals by end of April.

Among those who volunteered was AG Sta. Maria of Tita Adah’s Homemade Eats, and her assignment was cooking 65 meals a day for her adopted hospital, with the help of CDO donations. For sure there were a lot of fulfilling moments but her favorite was when a customer’s 10 year-old daughter broke her piggy bank and donated P750 for the frontliners. Her younger brother added his P20 allowance. She also donated her birthday cash gifts, turning over P10,000 to feed the frontliners.”Imagine, if a child can do something as selfless as that, then we must do so much more”, she said.

Big or small, every contribution matters

Big or small, every donation matters in this endeavor. AG and Deng, her husband and advocacy partner, share this beautiful Mother Teresa quote with anyone who wants to help: “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”

“Sometimes we worry when supplies are really low,” shared Angel Giron of Sam and Sav. “But then bigla na lang may food sponsor na darating when you’re about to give up. Like CDO. I prepared their tocino and ham some weeks ago. And yesterday we prepared their longganisa. For next week, they gave us tawilis and chicken franks. Ang laking tulong n’on for us, and gusto siya ng mga doctors and nurses na naging friends na rin namin.”

What Community Spirit Can DO

For Chiqui Madrasto who founded The Sweet Factory, it was natural to open up her kitchen to the relief efforts. Growing up, she remembers watching her father in the middle of every relief effort. “I can’t believe I’ve prepared 1,100 meals in just three weeks – just me, my boyfriend and my mom! Nakakapagod and stressful lalo na when you’re running late, because you don’t want to disappoint the frontliners who work so hard. But when you see how happy and grateful they are when you arrive with the food, bawing-bawi ang pagod mo.”

Jorge Juan, who launched his home business Tito George chili sauce a few years ago to spend more time with his kids, was thrilled when his now teenage sons also signed up as volunteer cooks. “My father taught me: ‘Tumulong lang nang tumulong at hindi ka matatalo. Don’t expect anything back.’ It’s enough that I set a good example to my kids.”

By mobilizing its people, partnering with individuals and organizations who share CDO’s commitment to keeping frontliners safe, and creating programs so that its products become more accessible to Filipino homes, CDO exemplifies the true bayanihan spirit that marks Filipinos during times of crisis. All it takes is a big heart, and a relentless Can DO attitude.

As Angel says, “It starts with you. If you Can DO it, others will follow.”