Catriona Gray calls for donations for families in Smokey Mountain amid community quarantine

Image: Facebook/Catriona Gray

Catriona Gray is calling for donations to provide rice for families living in Smokey Mountain in Tondo, Manila,  that are affected by the community quarantine.

The Miss Universe 2018 winner made the appeal on her Instagram page yesterday, March 24.

“Staying at home looks [a lot] different for many families across our nation right now,” she said before acknowledging her privilege.

She added that she is grateful to be in a “comfortable environment” with food and water during the community quarantine. However, Gray pointed out that other Filipino households’ “reality is contrastingly different.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-Gv-R7gOPm/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

“For a lot of these families, they’re heavily dependent on their work,” she said in the video accompanying her post. “And with their work being cut off, it means no pay, which consequently means no food for their families.”

This prompted the beauty queen to work with Young Focus, a Philippine-based nonprofit organization, in raising funds for those residing in Smokey Mountain. The amount collected will be used to buy 15 kilograms of rice for each of the affected households. Gray and the group aim to distribute a total of 1,000 bags of rice for the community.

She noted that one 15-kg bag costs P550 and is enough to feed a whole family. Gray also included a link for those interested to give monetary donations.

Aside from Gray, her fellow celebrities Matteo Guidicelli and Kean Cipriano have raised over $4 million for other families across the nation that are also struggling amid the enhanced community quarantine.  /ra

RELATED STORIES: 

Catriona Gray helps raise over P350,000 for kids with cleft palates, lips

Deaf model Nyle DiMarco refuses COVID-19 testing to allow those with worse symptoms access to kits