2020 Highlights for filipinos feed the frontlines

Filipinos Feed the Frontlines launched in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as a response to the challenges and struggles that we saw our community facing. From our local chefs and restaurant owners working together to find some way to help, to our non-profit partners stepping up to distribute meals to community members hit hard by lack of access to resources, we’ve been humbled by the incredible show of support and love that our community has given to this cause. We want to thank everyone that has supported Filipinos Feed the Frontlines this year. From sharing posts to help us spread awareness to donating your time and resources to the campaign, the widespread impact we’ve had would not have been possible without you. Let’s take a look back at this amazing journey: 

Reaching Our $100k goal that Produced 10,000 Meals for the Frontlines 

Within only a few months of launching our Bay Area campaign, we reached our goal of raising $100,000 dollars to produce 10,000 meals for frontline healthcare workers, low income families, and seniors! The amazing success and response to our local, Bay Area campaign led us to launch a national campaign partnering with other Filipino cultural districts and communities across the country to support our small business owners, healthcare workers, and community members. 

The funds raised by the campaign had a second, powerful impact: they helped boost the revenue streams of our local chefs and restaurant owners like Manila Bowl, Sarap Shop, Chef Reina, IVSF Catering, SSF Chickenbox, FK Frozen Custard, Pinoy Heritage, Ox & Tiger, Senor Sisig, Mestiza, Little Skillet, and the Lumpia Company who had all been severely impacted by the shelter in place mandate. 

Your contribution to the campaign helped to provide a meal to feed a healthcare worker or family in need, while also supporting our local Filipino food businesses and owners to help them survive this unprecedented time. 

Food Partners Ronnie Taylor and Jason Angeles Pledge $1,500/Week to the Campaign 

Two of our original Bay Area food partners, Ronnie Taylor and Jason Angeles of SSF Chickenbox, IVSF Catering, FK Frozen Custard, Sugar & Spun, and Churerria SF, generously donated $1,500 a week to the campaign! 

“We are Filipino owned businesses that were held up by our Filipino community during the tough first few months of SIP [Shelter In Place]. Now it’s our turn to return the favor to our community.  This is how we get back out of this, together. We’ll be better equipped to build and thrive in the new normal.”

Partnering with Bayani Art, Sosyalgal, Adapt, Chef Reina, and The Park’s Finest for limited edition merch to support the Frontlines! 

Throughout the course of the campaign, our partnerships with local businesses, influencers, and brands created exclusive collaboration designs that were used to raise funds and help us get closer to our goal. 

Bayani Art’s commemorative t-shirt sported a design that reflected the sense of community and responsibility that we have to each other while Sosyalgal’s tote bag, designed by Lauren Fox, honed in on a beautiful message of kapwa and intergenerational connection that also donated groceries to a senior in need. 

Down in Los Angeles, The Park’s Finest Jeepney tote sported an icon in Filipinx culture while our Bay Area vegan superstar, Chef Reina, sported an Oh My Gulay design that reflected her innovation in Filipinx vegan cuisine. Partnering with Adapt for the One Love collaboration shirt was impactful because we aligned with a business that believes in the concepts of advancement, progress, and positive change for themselves and for the individuals and communities that they serve. 

Partner Collaborations with Los Angeles’ HiFi and Stockton’s Little Manila

With the success of our Bay Area campaign, we launched a national effort with Filipinos Feed the Frontlines by partnering with other Filipino cultural districts in California. 

Big thanks to some of our first partners in Los Angeles’ Historic Filipinotown (HiFi), including Margarita and Walter Manzke of Sari Sari Store, Ray Yaptinchay and Jay Tugas of Spoon & Pork, and Justin Foranda of HiFi Kitchen. We wouldn’t have been able to distribute meals to the HiFi community without the help of SIPA (Search to Involve Pilipino Americans). 

We recently launched a third partnership with Little Manila, the Filipino cultural district in Stockton! Shout out to our partners Little Manila Rising and food partners Papa Urbs and Island Gourmet for coordinating the creation of meals and deliveries to healthcare workers, families, and seniors in need. 

#FilipinosFeedTheFrontlines Featured in the New York Times!

One of the biggest highlights of 2020 for our team was being featured in the New York Times! Jill Cowan’s piece, “Why So Many Filipino Californians are on the Front Lines” reflected on the history of Filipino Americans in the U.S., the impact they’ve made in the nursing and healthcare fields, and how local Californians have responded to the pandemic with initiatives like Filipinos Feed the Frontlines or mobilizing in their own communities. 

Big thanks to our incredible press team, PapaLoDown Agency, for facilitating this feature and elevating the campaign to a national level. 

Generous matching grants from the San Francisco Foundation, Kilroy Alexandria, Brookfield, and Wells Fargo

At the start of our local campaign for the Frontlines, we received incredibly generous matching grants from Kilroy, Alexandria, and Brookefield that helped us hit the ground running. Big thanks to the San Francisco Foundation for their donation of $10,000, to Kilroy Alexandria for their $5,000 donation, and Brookfield for their donation of $5,000. 

With their support, we started off the campaign with a great lead of $20,000 that would go back to our restaurant owners to create meals that would be delivered to healthcare workers, families, and seniors. 

Another milestone in the campaign was reaching the $60,000 fundraising mark thanks to the generous 1:1 matching grant from Wells Fargo! 

Wells Fargo reached out with an offer to match every dollar donated to the campaign after reaching our $50,000 goal in order to get us to $60,000. The excitement and momentum of their matching grant gave our partners and the campaign an incredible boost as we rallied our community around a common cause. 

As we close out 2020, we’ve received another generous matching grant from Union Bank. We want to encourage our community to help us double the impact of this donation - for every dollar you donate, Union Bank will match your donation up to $5,000!