Much of the Philippines is still under varying degrees of lockdown though some restrictions have been loosened to allow people to go back to work and get the economy going. It’s a very delicate balancing act — keeping the spread of the virus at controllable levels while opening up the country. Many communities still need help due to quarantines while frontliners are kept busy handling the sick. Here are more stories of people doing good.

PLDT-Smart Foundation

The PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF) has partnered with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to provision the army’s mobile kitchen with more than 1,250 kg of rice and 500 kg of vegetables purchased directly from farmers’ cooperatives including the Batangas Organic and Natural Farming Agriculture Cooperative.

The donation will help the army continue providing hot meals for more than 4,000 families in Metro Manila.

“The AFP has been one of our partners when it comes to conducting [relief] efforts. With our recent donations, we hope that more families will benefit from this mobile kitchen initiative as the country continues to face the lethal impact of the pandemic,” Esther Santos, PSF President, said in a statement.

The foundation also donated reusable masks for soldiers manning the mobile kitchen and served 150 meals to the officers and staff of the National Task Force in Camp Aguinaldo.

Standard Chartered Bank

Standard Chartered Bank through its global COVID-19 fund aid, donated 6,600 protective personal equipment (PPEs) sets to help augment the limited medical supplies in the country. The donation was made in partnership with non-government organization Philippine Business for Social Progress and fundraising platform Bayanihan Musikahan. The sets include reusable coveralls, shoe covers, and face shields, and were distributed to 20 hospitals and treatment centers in the National Capital Region including the Medical Center Muntinlupa (MCM), San Lorenzo Ruiz Women’s Hospital (SLRMC) in Malabon, and Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center (ARMMC) in Marikina.

Uniqlo Philippines

Uniqlo Philippines announced that it will be donating 100,000 masks to hospitals and communities and 20,000 Uniqlo DRY T-shirts to frontliners “to show appreciation for their hard work,” the company said in a statement.

Globe myBusiness

Globe myBusiness rolled out the second phase of its Heroes for Heroes project which has the company partnering with small- and medium-sized food enterprises to provide meals for healthcare frontliners in select hospitals.

The first phase helped 25 hospitals and has brought business back to 11 restaurants and logistics businesses throughout the last week of March until the first weeks of April.

Among the new partner food businesses were Susie’s Cuisine, 121 Grille and Restaurant, Veggiebite, and Oldtown Lechon. They were able to prepare meals for healthcare workers at De La Salle Dasmariñas City Medical Center in Cavite, Las Piñas Doctors Hospital, Loving Mother General Hospital in Pampanga, and Bacolod Adventist Medical Center, among others. The meals were delivered daily to each hospital for five days.

Apart from providing meals, Globe myBusiness partnered with HTP Clothing to supply hospitals with PPEs, while also donating other essentials like surgical face masks, surgical gloves, and disinfectants.

Shake Shack

Burger chain Shake Shack’s Share the Shack program is giving frontliners from 16 beneficiary communities its featured item if customers buy the same from FoodPanda from April 21 to June 13.

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