CATALYST. Frontliners at Callejo Medical Clinic in Las Piñas City laud Helping Hands COVID-19 Donation Drive Team on April 30, 2020 for the lunch and the unexpected kindness which they described as the most powerful agent of human change. PHOTO COURTESY OF Shiela Sangga 
by Mary Rose Go
A golden-hearted family from Las Piñas, rose and took an initiative to lend a helping hand for frontliners and residents of the city.
Shiela Sangga, daughter of Cleofe and Gerry, led the Helping Hands COVID-19 Donation Drive which initially aimed to help the senior citizens of the community because of their vulnerability especially in the time of COVID-19.
However, an overflowing help from their supporters poured into their hands so they extended their aid to more beneficiaries, which included frontliners and community volunteers not only in Las Piñas but also in Quezon City, Valenzuela City, Caloocan City, Bulacan, and Cavite.
The donation drive was a personal appeal to relatives and friends of the Sangga family. Their 17-day serving, starting from April 13 to 30, led to a tremendous assistance to people in need.
On April 18, the team provided 160 meals to the community volunteers of Talon 4, Las Pinas City.
On April 21 to 22, nine barangays in Las Piñas benefited from the 200 distributed relief packs that contained 3 kilograms of rice, half-dozen of eggs, 1 loaf of bread, 12 sachets of instant coffee, 7 sachets of instant soup, 5 cans of corned beef, and 2 cans of corned tuna.
On April 25, about 200 frontliners from Las Piñas Doctors Hospital, Christ the King Unihealth Las Piñas, and Las Pinas City Medical Center enjoyed the meals prepared by the group.
On April 30, four more hospitals benefited with 150 meals for their frontliners – Las Piñas General Hospital, Pope John Paul II Hospital and Medical Center, Callejo Medical Clinic, and Hi-Precision Diagnostics Las Piñas.
Helping Hands Team also distributed 40 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Las Piñas General Hospital & Dasmariñas City Medical Center.
The group also provided cash assistance of P5000 through GCash to families having financial difficulties specifically, mothers who cannot buy essential foods for their children.
Laying a hand out would be impossible without the help of one another. Sheila together with her sibling, parents, and core group lifted the spirit of bayanihan because of their golden-hearts.
“Our help to our fellow Filipinos greatly affected by this pandemic does not end here though, for we can always include them in our prayers. Let us continue to pray for the safety and good health of everyone,” Sangga appealed in her FB post after the conclusion of their cause.