A collaborative project created by the Los Angeles Filipino American (FilAm) community in partnership with numerous sponsors to provide essential packages and resources that can be most helpful to our vulnerable and valuable community members.
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Origin Behind “BalikBAHAY”
“BalikBAHAY” means “return HOME” in the Tagalog language. The meaning emphasizes that it is essential that vulnerable members of our community stay at home during this pandemic (#stayathome). “BalikBAHAY” Box is a play off the words “Balikbayan Box”, the famous boxes that Filipino families in the U.S. bring back to their loved ones in the Philippines, as a sign of thoughtfulness, support, and love.
Our Story
The BalikBAHAY Project, a joint effort by FASGI, Dr. Antonio Moya/UCLA National Clinicians Scholarship Program and Dr. Melanie Sabado-Liwag/CSULA, aims to do the following
- Distribute 130-150 care packages to Filipino Americans hardest hit by COVID-19 within 5 areas of Los Angeles County: Historic Filipinotown vicinity, West Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley and the South Bay; recipients include persons who lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic and essential workers who have not been served by other programs; each care package will include healthy food items identified based on the recommendations of a dietician, an alcohol spray bottle, soap, cloth masks, gloves, tetrapaks of no sugar oolong tea donated by Vitasoy, and pamphlets with COVID-19 information (developed by the BalikBAHAY team, FASGI, and the LA County Department of Mental Health. Each care package costs approximately $30, and we try our best to source the products to find the most cost effective items
- Implement a survey to study people’s reactions and perceptions on COVID-19
- Disseminate accurate and up-to-date COVID-19 information to the public and provide ways in maintaining health and wellbeing during the pandemic and ensuing lockdown through eight webinars.
Message to Community Members
We as a community acknowledge your efforts, even ever so small. May this be a small token of our appreciation to you and your family. We thank you for your sacrifice during these unprecedented times.