Food for Fighters -- an inspiring tale of everyday Thai heroes

Coca-Cola is shining the spotlight on Panchana Vatanasathien, a Thai hero from the "Food for Fighters" project, one of the everyday heroes from around the world selected to feature in the company’s online film, "For the Human Race".

Reflecting on the origins of her project, Panchana, or "Tete", owner of the PenLaos restaurant, a community restaurant in Nakhon Ratchasima province, says: “The number of customers visiting the restaurant dropped dramatically after the lockdown measures and I became very worried that I wouldn’t be able to look after my employees – who are longtime friends. I decided to take hold of my fear and look for opportunity,” said Panchana.

“Since frontline healthcare workers are working hard to help all of us get through this situation, I wanted to help provide them with food and, at the same time, help the restaurant business move forward in this difficult period. That’s why I came up with the idea of raising money to order lunchboxes from restaurants and distributing them to healthcare workers. At first, I honestly wondered if anybody would join me."

Panchana posted her proposal on her Facebook account and was soon contacted by various partners. After some work, the project finally took shape.

From the initial idea to help three hospitals in Bangkok and the vicinity, the project grew and is now able to help more than 20 hospitals nationwide, Panchana said.

From the early goal of delivering 1,000 to 3,000 boxes of food per day to hospitals, the project has expanded significantly and reached a total of 30,000 boxes within a month.

“Sometimes, I felt very depressed about the situation, but I realised I needed to quickly steel myself for the task; I knew it was ‘now or never’,” added Panchana.

“The difficulty gave me a chance to see that I needed to remain calm and deal with my emotions. It also helped me to see how if the kindness and unity of ordinary people are linked together, it can become a great force and bring inspiration and relief for others. Seeing how useful this project is to the public is truly an amazing experience that drives me forward every day.”
One thing that Panchana is proud of is that throughout the project, she has revived the spirit of everyone involved. She always reminds the team that this moment is here and now for them. Making lunchboxes during this period might not be able to make them rich or make a lot of profit, but it gives them the spirit to live on.

The online global film, "For the Human Race", showcases local heroes from around the world including everyday heroes from Italy, the United States and Thailand.

“I cried after hearing that ‘Food for Fighters’ was selected as one of the stories to be broadcast throughout the world in the film ‘For the Human Race’. I am glad that this project meets Coca-Cola’s objectives of creating universal hope, positivity and togetherness, and is driving everyone to unite and regain their strength," Panchana said.

"‘Food for Fighters’ is nothing compared to the hard work of frontline healthcare workers. I want this to encourage them to fight. This crisis is giving me a chance to connect with citizens from all over the world and I want to thank everyone involved in this project. Since I started the project, it has made me realise that this life is truly worthwhile,” Panchana added.

Moving forward, "Food for Fighters" aims to raise Bt2 million for the providing lunchboxes to medical staff at various hospitals nationwide, with food carriers to help reduce waste and be environmentally friendly.

In the long term, Panchana has the idea to extend assistance to those affected by unemployment in the service and tourism industry. She is now proposing a "Food for Fighters Community Kitchen" project, which will work with partners to open a central kitchen for the community (in pilot provinces) and employ those affected by the crisis, giving them much-needed jobs.

To contribute to the crowdfunding project, donations can be made at https://social.sinwattana.com/foodforfighters or by transferring money to Kasikornbank; account name: Panchana Vatanasathien; account number: 003-2-916724. In addition, the project plans to make "Food for Fighters" T-shirts for sale.

For more information, visit the Facebook Page: FoodForFightersTH or call 02-016-9910 from 9am to 5pm on weekdays.