BACOLOD City – A group of public school teachers in Sagay City, Negros Occidental sparked the “bayanihan” spirit in their community by setting up sharing stations that provided free food and home essentials for needy families affected by the enhanced community quarantine brought by the coronavirus disease 2019.
Dubbed as “Bulig-HaTAG”, the educators organized school-based and mobile stations for two weeks which benefited some 600 households from various villages in Sagay City.
The project’s name was coined from two Hiligaynon words – bulig (help) and hatag (give). HaTAG means Heal as One through Three Acts of Goodness (TAG). The acts are do good deed, speak good words and think good thoughts.
According to Senior Education Program Specialist for Social Mobilization Josette Balandra, the project’s focal person, the goal was to provide a viand a day for seven days to each beneficiary-household aside from the food packs they received from the local government.
“We wanted to spread goodness and compassion. The ‘bayanihan’ spirit was truly alive in this project,” Balandra said on May 2.
The initiative was realized through the generosity of private donors and other partners aside from the kindness of some beneficiaries.
With encouragement from Balandra, more than 20 teachers started the project which they adopted from the “kindness station” concept of Rowan Celestra, principal of Buenavista Elementary School in Sorsogon City.
The teachers are the TAG school coordinators of the Department of Education in Sagay City headed by Schools Division Superintendent Arlene Bermejo
Bulig-HaTAG station’s trial, which ran from April 16 to 22, was set up at the Sagay National High School-Old Sagay Extension in Barangay Old Sagay. A total of 159 households from Gawad Kalinga Sinigayan Village, MDG Village and iHomes were provided help.
In the first two days, Balandra said the sharing station catered only the first two communities, but as more supplies arrived on the third day, they also adopted the third village.
Some of the beneficiaries in Barangay Old Sagay also donated vegetables from their gardens and dried fish to other households.
From April 24 to 30, the second Bulig-HaTAG station was located at the Fabrica Elementary School in Barangay Fabrica. The project assisted there some 200 households, along with 50 others from Purok Santo Niño.
Each day for seven days, a household member got to visit the sharing station and avail items for free.
The products available were chicken, pork, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, condiments, instant noodles, bread, and coffee, among others. Detergent powder and shampoo were also given to them.
“We have observed that the beneficiaries just took what they need so that there will be enough for others. We also encouraged them to share what they have,” Balandra said.
The mobile Bulig-HaTag station then travelled to Barangay Paraiso for four days.
At Josebio L. Gonzaga Memorial Elementary School Extension, some 140 households from Hacienda Paraiso and Sangay availed free goods on April 26, 28 and 29.
On April 30, about 50 households in Purok Paglaum also benefited from the project.
Balandra thanked the donors for sharing their blessings. One of them is nine-year-old Sanzee Reych Baloco, a fourth grader in Old Sagay Elementary School, who donated his savings to the Bulig-HaTAG project.
On May 1, Balandra posted on her Facebook account videos of some beneficiaries thanking the teachers and the donors for their generosity.(With a report from PNA/PN)
