Antoinette Taus with Jason Roy Cabuguas at the launching of #hashtaglunchbagcebu.
WHAT is your Instagram feed made of?
Was it about a visit to a new café? Your weekend getaway with friends at a still undiscovered beach, or in a mountain retreat full of flowers?
These days, it’s not just traditional media dictating the trend, what with every single thing posted on social media—whatever is trending, people want
it and people go for it.
Promising limitless possibilities, imagine if we put hashtags to much better use and encourage people do noble things.
This is the gist of the message of actress-host Antoinette Taus when she paid a visit to Cebu in February.
Since last year, Antoinette has been spearheading the #hashtaglunchbagPH, through CORA Cares, a foundation named after her mother. CORA Cares— for Communities Organized for Resourced Allocation (CORA)., which aims to end hunger, to spread love and inspire others.
Antoinette and Jason Roy with children from Umapad, Mandaue City.
“Coming back from the US a few years ago, I wanted to involve myself in a foundation or organization to help change the world. As a little girl, I grew up attending feeding programs with my family,” she said.
“We believe that there are enough resources in the planet for every single human being. It’s just that there isn’t enough distribution… the resources do not get to everyone, especially to people who need it the most. We hope to change that,” Antoinette added. Here, Antoinette was helped by Cebuano Jason Roy Cabuguas, who is also into charity works.
For the first #hashtaglunchbag in Cebu, the beneficiaries were 500 individuals residing in Umapad, Mandaue City, from an open landfill area where residents make a living out of recycling trash.
The lunch packs came in a brown bag with doodles and love notes from the volunteers, who repacked the goods at Milkcow in Cebu IT Park last Feb. 18.
Volunteers pose with the children of Umapad, Mandaue City.
“I hope the children kept the love notes as a reminder that they are not forgotten.
As for the volunteers, we want them to be inspired and hopefully join us again, if not create their own movement to help others,” she said.
Next year, Antoinette will be partnering with PH8 foundation to build water wells in communities that don’t have access to clean drinking water.
“Just by giving pure drinking water, we can clear 50 percent of hospital beds across the globe. We would eliminate diseases and deaths caused by
bacteria,” she said.
Indeed, even a simple act of kindness can go a long way. “If we all do the same, the world will become a better place for us to live in,” she said.