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SheGives Board Member Geraldine Acuna boarded the first civilian flight from Boston into the Philippines to travel to her hometown of Roxas City, capital of Capiz Province in the Central Philippines. Capiz was directly in the path of Supertyphoon Haiyan as it ripped through the Visayan islands [Capiz comprises the northern half of the triangular island in the middle of the attached map]. She has spent the past couple of days with the local Red Cross, Unicef and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and town and provincial officials as they respond to the crisis there.
Geraldine reports that the damage to infrastructure, buildings, and agriculture in Capiz is devastating and widespread, the human cost there is heavy with several dozen dead and hundreds injured, and it’s not even the most impacted of the Visayas! As you’ve no doubt seen on the news, on Leyte and in its capital of Tacloban, the scale of the destruction is practically apocalyptic and the toll simply unbearable as losses quickly climb into the thousands.
Aid is finally reaching the Philippines but the needs throughout the central part of the country are enormous. It will take a massive, international operation to feed, treat and clothe the millions impacted by the storm, to reach remote areas cut off from supplies, and to provide temporary shelter for those who lost their homes and temporary schools for displaced children. Reconstruction will be a slow process and will also require a sustained commitment of global resources.
Here is a picture of Geraldine with kids at the evacuation center in Capiz. Despite the loss of their homes, their school, and in some cases of family members, they are nonetheless still able to smile.
If you are inclined to give, here is a link to local Red Cross in the Philippines that is on the groun giving aid: http://www.redcross.org.ph/
And here is a great and timely resource on how to help with disaster relief generally, via Give Well: 6 Tips on Disaster Relief Giving
SheGives connects committed, inquisitive, engaged funders with a slate of diligenced nonprofits in the Greater Boston area. We provide members with relevant data about the nonprofits in our portfolio and an opportunity to meet directly with our nonprofits’ Executive Directors and senior staff in small settings that promote in-depth q&a’s and, ultimately, informed giving. Giving is personally driven, but because we give side-by-side our collective impact is greater.
With reporting from Gabriel Sunshine.
SheGives Board Member Geraldine Acuna On the Ground in the Philipines Giving Disaster Aid
