May 10, 2020. Back when all cities were on ECQ and non-essentials were not allowed to cross city borders, and before I was introduced to Maxim (a useful taxi e-hailing service with riders having inter-city passes), we had a hiccup in getting our filled pan de sals to the frontliners of ARC Hospital in Lapulapu.
It was a Sunday, and as usual, booking deliveries was tricky because most riders take the day off. Due to coding, our car was only allowed outside from 12 midnight until 12 noon, which added to the nervous excitement. We rolled out our baking early, and by 11:00, we were at the border trying to book a ride. By 11:30, there was still no rider accepting our booking requests. We were on both Grab and Lalamove, booking one failed rider after another, yet nothing! 12PM was fast approaching, and I was getting hungry (I am on intermittent fasting, and my eating window starts at 12). Out of desperation for both the bread and my hunger, I sent a message to Miss Jo.
Miss Jo is a person I haven’t met before. I only talked to her on Instagram the night prior when I found her profile through one of her ARC Hospital location-tagged posts. I was scrolling through posts looking for an addressee I could send the bread to, and it was her top tagged post from October 24, 2019, that caught my eye. I sent her a message and found out she’s an ER nurse, which was very ideal. Unfortunately, she was on leave, but was gracious enough to give me her colleague’s details. I said my thanks to Miss Jo and thought that was the end of our conversation.
Back to 12 noon of that challenging Sunday, I was getting desperate—all 90 pieces needed to get to the beneficiaries! So, I sent Miss Jo a text asking for help. I was hoping that she knew at least one ARC employee coming from Mandaue who was working that day and can take the bread with them.
Thank my lucky stars because that exact moment, Miss Jo was on her way to one of the Mandaue shops for a supply run. We met shortly near the border at the Old Bridge, and I endorsed the bread to her. She was our Share-a-Bread hero that day! Thank you for your commitment and dedication, Miss Jo, whether on- or off-duty. May you and your colleagues stay safe and healthy during this fight against CoViD!
All photo credits to Miss Jo. Thanks to Donna, our editor, for streamlining this post.
