Peninsula Children Help Out Amid Coronavirus Crisis

Updated on April 6

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO — You don’t have to be that old to help others. Five-year-old Isaac Au, and his younger brother Anthem, who’s around 2 1/2, are doing what they can for those facing hardship during a crisis triggered by the new coronavirus outbreak.

The Au brothers, members of the Light Bearers Club, a community service group made up of Peninsula and South Bay young children, pre-schoolers and even some toddlers, recently stocked the Little Free Pantry outside South San Francisco’s Main Library on Orange Ave. with household items.

The Au brothers are participating in Little Free Pantry, a national movement that formed in 2016 to aid those experiencing food insecurity.

The movement piggybacks on Little Free Library, a group that has set up donation boxes throughout the nation.

The Little Free Pantries in the Bay Area in recent weeks have been stocked with everything from food to household items, including toilet paper, and even booze, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Other Light Bearers Club members plan to donate items to Little Free Libraries on the Peninsula, in the South Bay and possibly in San Francisco, Isaac and Anthem’s mother, Diane Au said.

Before the COVID-19 crisis, the Light Bearers Club’s 10 members regularly visited an assisted living facility in Burlingame, where they would sing, play games and perform dances for Alzheimer’s patients.

“It was a way for us to teach our children, young, what it means to serve those that are ‘poor in spirit,’ ”Diane Au said.

Four-year-old Chloe Chang from Burlingame recently dropped off food at a Little Free Pantry near City College of San Francisco on Mission Street with her mom, Pauline.

“We saw a homeless person by the freeway exit on our way there and we decided to gave her some of the items,” Pauline Chang said. “Chloe was really happy to help her.”

Those experiencing food insecurity or are short of other essentials they can’t find elsewhere can take what they need from the pantries.

The group asks that those who can afford to donate what they can.

“We are a small, but mighty group of children who want to serve our community and bless those in need,” a Light Bearers Club sign posted on the South San Francisco pantry reads.

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