Kalayaan Inc. launches Bayanihan food drive for Sinlaku survivors despite heavy storm losses

Even after sustaining what it estimates to be hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage from Super Typhoon Sinlaku, Kalayaan Inc. pushed ahead with a drive-in food distribution last May 9 at its Koblerville facility to assist storm survivors.

“We wanted to make sure that we are committed not just in our regular operations but also in being part of this community and in making sure that we are part of the recovery efforts of this devastation,” said Eleanor Alinas, food services manager of the food service provider primarily for the Public School System.

The event, dubbed the “Bayanihan Food Distribution Event,” distributed 700 meal packs consisting of either a chicken ranch sub sandwich or tuna salad sandwich, along with fruit and water.

Alinas said the effort reflects the Filipino spirit of bayanihan or communal unity.

“Everywhere you will see that everybody's trying to pitch in and help whatever small ways that we can contribute, we're doing it,” she said.

She added that Saturday’s distribution was only the beginning of the company’s planned relief efforts.

“We are also going to be doing this for the next three Saturdays,” Alinas said, urging residents to monitor the company’s social media pages for updates.

Alinas also acknowledged that demand exceeded expectations and said Kalayaan plans to scale up future distributions.

“We made 700 meals but we think that this may not be enough for next Saturday. So, we are trying our best to gather as much resource as we can in order to produce more,” she said.

She emphasized that the company itself was heavily impacted by the typhoon.

“We want the community to know that we are part of this community and that we, like everybody else, is hurt by all this devastation,” Alinas said. “We ourselves are part of this devastation.”

According to Alinas, Kalayaan’s warehouse and cold storage areas sustained severe damage during the storm.

“The majority, like the back part, our warehouse has been completely demolished,” she said. “A lot of it is really just complete devastation of our equipment, of our tools, like a lot of it, of our supplies, a lot of it is damaged.”

She added that frozen inventory and refrigeration facilities were also hit.

“In terms of monetary value? Hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Alinas said of the estimated losses.

Despite the hardships, she said Kalayaan remains committed to helping the community recover.

“To all Sinlaku survivors, we want you to know that you guys are not alone, that we are here,” Alinas said. “As long as we help each other, as long as we are there for each other, I am confident that we are going to rise from this just like how we've done it in the past because we are hashtag Marianas Strong.”