“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.” This phrase became popular in America in the 70’s at the height of the tug-of-war between the GOP and the Democrats as to their role in nation building.

As we are experiencing the onslaught of COVID-19, the same phrase needs to be translated into concrete or observable actions lest it will be taken to mean as “lip-service.” To be more relevant to the response of the co-ops to the same similar situation that we are in, we rephrase it to read:

“Now is the time for all good co-op leaders to come to the aid of their communities.” Indeed, we are witnessing the stories of individual and collective actions by co-op leaders nationwide as every community faces the same challenge: how are we going to help the people to overcome difficulties brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic? How do we help the government ease the burden of alleviating the plight of our countrymen?