Losing it All

Can you imagine waking up to nothing? No food, no clothes, no water, perhaps no family or friends. Where there was a house before, now nothing stands. Where there was a tree is emptiness.  

This is what thousands of people are experiencing in the Philippines. The Red Cross estimates 10 million people across 40 provinces have been affected with as many as 600,000 people displaced. A total of 78,476 families (380,552 persons) are being served inside 1,028 evacuation centers in the Philippines according to the government’s official gazette following the supertyphoon that made landfall last Friday.

Estimates are that 10,000 people are dead.

The U.S. government has only pledged $100,000 and other kinds of support to the Philippines, but U.S. companies have pledged $20 million. You can see what companies are donating at this link.

I recently began looking for an internship to do next semester as part of my master’s program. I contacted some local companies and was referred to one that I was told always needed people. That company was the American Red Cross. Sure enough, they said they could use me.

I found a list of relief organizations from around the world that are helping in the Philippines. The one that showed up the most was the Red Cross. It’s the largest relief organization in the Philippines with 1,000 staff members and an estimated 500,000 active volunteers engaged in response to this emergency.

You can always donate at redcross.org. With the holidays coming up, you can also give a present that will save lives through emergency shelters and vaccinations or help the military with comfort kits.

You can also donate directly to the Philippines Red Cross. We have so much to be thankful for this year. God bless the people of the Philippines. Let us be the light in their storm.