1. Pray for those affected by Typhoon Yolanda.
FINANCIAL
2. Go to any remittance counter in Lucky Plaza and tell them that you want to send donations for Typhoon Yolanda victims. They have the account numbers of major organizations in the Philippines who provide relief operations. As part of their public service, they will waive the remittance fee for you. Don't know which one to pick? I usually go to iRemit at the third floor (03-69) and donate to Red Cross. Other credible organizations are the GMA Kapuso Foundation and ABS-CBN Sagip Kapamilya. These are foundations of two big networks in the Philippines so you can be assured that your money will go to the right beneficiaries.
3. A bit cash-strapped? Hmmm...it wouldn't hurt to skip that cup of starbucks/coffee bean/more-expensive-than-average coffee that you usually have, wouldn't it? Or maybe drop that one cute blouse or dress that you're getting to reward yourself for a hard day's work. Or maybe delay buying that high-tech gadget that you have been saving up for. Buy it one month later and use a portion of the money instead to give hope. Dilly-dallying whether to go for that vacation? Dilly-dally no more...go some other time. Go to Lucky Plaza instead and refer to #1 :)
4. Help is underway for people in areas where there has been a lot of coverage like Samar, particularly Tacloban. Video footages will scare you, tear your heart apart, and make you cry. But there are also some areas, especially far-flung, where help couldn't go as fast as they should. One example is Coron in Palawan. If you want to help them, coordinate with CoronWonders on Facebook. My sister also saw that SavePhilipineSeas is focusing their efforts on Malapascua in Cebu.
IN KIND
5. You have a lot of old clothes that you want to give away? The people of Samar, Leyte, Cebu, Palawan (and other provinces that were hit by the typhoon) would be more than happy to have some of yours. Send them to these people. Ask LBC, Jolly-box, A-freight (and other shipment companies) if they could ship them for you for free. LBC did it last time. Some friends, McRhon Banderlipe and Bubbles Asor, are organizing an in-kind donation activity so you could also drop your clothes and blankets at their place. Please call them and Im sure they would be happy for your call.
6. (Manila-based) How many mobile phones have you had? A lot, im sure. If they are no longer working and you dont know what to do with your chargers, head over to the National Institute of Physics at UP Diliman at room F105 and donate your old, broken chargers to our guys at the UP Physics Association. They will convert these to portable chargers which they will send to the victims.
TIME AND SERVICES
7. Counselling. I was watching a You Tube clip of news report from Love Anover and Jiggy Manigad who were hiding at a Cathedral when the storm struck. Love was crying when she was recounting her experience. And she is a journalist who is used to extra-ordinary situations. So imagine the trauma that ordinary people went through after that 300kph storm (the fastest that F1 racers can go here in Singapore is 200+kph so imagine the kind of wind brought by the typhoon was). Now, i dont know how could this be organized. But if you are a psychologist or you know a group of psychologists or counsellors who provide post-traumatic counselling, maybe you could get in touch with Red Cross and ask how you can offer your services to them for a couple of days or weeks?
- Singapore Red Cross . They need people to man donation booths and call center. Call them at 6664 0539 or 6664 0500.
- GK Singapore They cant handle the volume of calls. Contact Claire Pascua at 9179 8603 or cpascua@gk1world.com
9. Other ways of helping can be found here:
- Rappler
- Habitat for Humanity - for home building. There is also a link where you can create your own fund-raising page in support for the Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) vitctims.
10. Pat yourself on the back for giving concrete help and sowing seeds of hope to those who are in need.
May you have a good Christmas! J
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