By Alex P. Vidal
“Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” – Theodore Roosevelt
THE Elmhurst Community Fridge 2 in Queens, NYC has been providing us with free food supplies since last year during the start of pandemic-induced lockdown.
Every now and then, I still visit the place and regularly see people pick from the fridge and the shelves fresh and frozen veggies and fruits, bottled water, juices, milk, peanut butter, bread, eggs, ready-to-eat meals and noodles, pantry items (canned items, pasta, etc.), baked goods.
Although most of the food are donated by Good Samaritans, others who come to collect are also encouraged to donate any food.
I immediately remembered the Elmhurst Community Fridge 2 when I learned that community pantry, which bears a sign: Give what you can, take what you need, has been sprouting in the Philippines.
I am happy to know that a week after the initiative began in the Philippines as a humble cart with free vegetables and canned goods, over 300 similar donation-driven efforts have popped up across the Philippines.
Variations such as community libraries and pantries for pets have appeared, too.
Amid the pandemic, humanity can always survive because we have the initiatives and alternatives; and because we always care for one another.
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Facial droop uneven smile? Arm numbness, arm weakness? Slurred speech, difficulty speaking or understanding? It is stroke! Acting fast is key to treating stroke. May is Stroke Awareness Month.
IT’S OUR FAULT. We were created with flat teeth because we are not supposed to be carnivores; therefore, we can’t eat meat but only vegetables. But when Prometheus discovered fire and handed the knowledge to mankind, we learned how to cook and thus we started to eat meat–and started to suffer a heart attack due to high cholesterol.
THEY CAN BE REMOVED, AFTER ALL. Tattoos can be removed by skin grafting, by infrared coagulation treatment, or by salabrasion in which table salt is scrubbed into the anesthetized skin. The hypertonic irritant solution disperses the tattoo pigment particles. Scars will be produced.
STAND UP STRAIGHT. This sounds so ridiculously simple, but it’s one of the most evidential traits of those women we so admire. Stand against a wall with head, shoulder blades, and heels touching, and buttocks pushed into the wall.
IGNORE THE EARTHQUAKE SOOTHSAYERS. The test of a hypothesis is whether it makes predictions that are borne out. Unfortunately, geologists do not yet have a clear enough understanding of earthquake phenomena to predict reliably and consistently where and when earthquakes will occur.
THE REAL McCOY. Although frequently associated with Darwinism, the phrase “survival of the fittest” was coined by Herbert Spencer, an English sociologist. It is the process by which organisms that are less well-adapted to their environment tend to perish and better-adapted organisms tend to survive.
ACCESSORIES MAKE THE WOMAN. A well-dressed woman is someone who knows the fine art of accessorizing. Accessories are the finishing touch that gives us our individuality and shows us just how far we can go with a little imagination.
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Interdependence–giving and receiving affection–is the key to happiness. It is basic human nature or natural law.
The five biggest ideas in science are: 1. The Atom 2. The Periodic Law 3. The Big Bang 4. Plate Tectonics 5. Evolution. This is according to book authors Charles M. Wynn and Arthur W. Wiggins.
THE SUN IS OUR SKIN’S NO. 1 ENEMY. We should always make sun protection a priority. Let’s use a sunscreen formulated for our skin along with our moisturizer. Much of the evidence of aging, rough skin, wrinkles, age spots, etc. are really the result of too much sun.
BEWARE THE DEADLIEST NATURAL TOXIN. Botulinal toxin, produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, is the most potent poison for humans. It has an estimated lethal dose in the bloodstream of 10-9 milligrams per kilogram. Death occurs when the respiratory muscles are paralyzed.
TO ALL LOVERS OF CIGARETTE. Cigarette smoke contains about 4,000 chemicals. Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, and nicotine are some of the major components, with lesser amounts of acetone, acetylene, formaldehyde, propane, hydrogen cyanide, toluene, and many others.
Women drive and cross the street more safely than men. Men account for 70 percent of pedestrian fatalities since 1980. Between the ages 18 and 45, males outnumber females as fatal crash victims by almost three to one according to the Nat’l Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)
