Calgary volunteers deliver 'culturally sensitive' food boxes to Filipino community

Filipino Calgarians who are unemployed or isolating due to COVID-19 can now have a taste of home delivered to their door.

Project Tulungan is offering "culturally sensitive" food boxes filled with canned sardines, Pancit Canton instant noodles, chicken adobo and beef pares.

"These recipes are passed down from our parents. It's food that would really be comforting in times of loneliness," said Minnella Antonio, manager of the volunteer group named after the Tagalog word for "help."

This is the first time Project Tulungan is delivering food boxes.

Up until now, its goal has been to translate COVID-19 documents into Tagalog and make them accessible to members of the local Filipino community — many of whom work at the Cargill meat-processing plant in High River.

Thousands of employees were temporarily out of work last spring after a COVID-19 outbreak at the slaughterhouse.

But almost a year later, Antonio says people are still "falling through the cracks."  

After receiving a community service grant from the Canadian non-profit TakingITGlobal, Antonio reached out to the Calgary East Zone Newcomers Collaborative to figure out how it could best be utilized.

Staff there, who operate a COVID-19 support hotline in 20 languages, told her the biggest issue right now is food insecurity.

"People don't have food for the day, like, people are calling saying they just need a meal to last at least a day," said Antonio. "So we created these boxes that we could deliver — the same day they call — to help any short-term food insecurity."

Antonio said it was important to include DIY meal kits with pre-made and pre-cut ingredients so that if someone is sick with COVID-19, they could easily cook it. 

So far, Project Tulungan has made a dozen food boxes that would last a family of four for one week.

The food is also available to newcomers and isolated seniors who reach out to Filipinos Rising on Facebook.

Antonio hopes to carry on the project for longer through donations from Calgarians.