Staying Rooted: A Message of Hope from the Roots Collective
To the Roots Collective Community:
We pray that all is well with you and your loved ones in these trying times.
The Roots Collective has always placed, and continue to place, first the safety and well-being of our people, community, and customers. Before our pop-up store closed, we began disinfecting customers who shopped in the store. As quarantine rolls on, we have taken these other initiatives to keep the Roots community safe, sound, and secure:
- Our new office remains closed, and our team members are all working from home, leaving their houses only for essentials.
- We have cut most of our costs to prepare the community for tough times ahead.
- We have set up a donation drive for our employees to help them navigate these troubled times.
- Relief bundles have also been provided to our employees, care of some of our partner enterprises.
As we ushered in a new decade of opportunities and hope, instead of running headlong into building our dreams, we now face a nightmare we do not know when it will end. Few, if any, could have imagined the scale that this crisis, said to be the most challenging time for the world since World War II, would eventually reach.
A lot of the economy has been driven to a standstill, including many MSMEs, the backbone of the economy. Roots itself now faces the most difficult time in its existence. So do most, if not all, of the local, social, and community-based enterprises that form our Roots family – and, by extension, the people behind those enterprises.
As an enabler of sustainable enterprise, we want more than anyone else to see these agents of positive change go on. We are gradually piloting our online store, starting on social media, in our attempts to keep serving you, our customers, and growing our enterprise family. We are selling a handful of products, with deliveries from our temporary warehouse at home, starting with stabilized chlorine dioxide from one of our partner enterprises, Pro-World Organiks.
We are continuously building on this, and while the immediate future still remains highly uncertain, when it does clear up, we will be ready to keep on bringing you the best that Philippine community, creativity, and sustainability can offer. We cannot stress enough how much is at stake for these enterprises, especially those who have entire communities or the environment to support.
We firmly believe that everyone’s rootedness, cooperation, and support is necessary if we are to #FlattenTheCurve and help restart life for all. First of all, social distancing, proper hygiene, and healthful lifestyle habits are a must. Even asymptomatic persons can be carriers of COVID-19, and we must do all that we can if we are to ensure the safety of those around us, especially the elderly and the immunocompromised. Wearing a mask, washing with soap and water, and eating and sleeping right can go a long way.
Secondly, life will go on for all of us in the “new normal”. Everyone will still need to buy essentials to survive, such as food and beverages, toiletries, cleaners, and even self-care. So we ask you to kindly consider supporting our local and social enterprises for these needs – enterprises who not only offer competitive and world-class alternatives, but also create opportunities for those with historically less access to such.
In doing so, you can help maintain jobs and inclusive practices that will ultimately benefit our society and economy in the long run.
We hope you will allow us to keep on leading this change towards a truly inclusive Philippines!
Get Rooted,
Aloy Chua and the Roots family
General Manager for Business Development
