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Monday, November 18, 2013

How to Help Philippines Typhoon Victims


LIAM STACK and ROBERT MACKEY
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Typhoon-Yolanda-flag-credit-AP-Bullit-Marquez
Updated, Tuesday, 5:44 p.m. | As the full scale of the devastation wrought across the islands of the Philippines over the weekend by Typhoon Haiyan came into fuller view on Monday, governments around the world have pledgedaid to the victims. The Pentagon has dispatched an advance team of 90 marines and sailors, and U.S.A.I.D. has pledged emergency shelter and hygiene materials and 55 tons of food. The American Embassy in Manila has donated $100,000 for water and sanitation assistance.

Below is a list of contact information for some organizations that plan to provide relief to victims of the typhoon, called Yolanda in the Philippines. The New York Times does not certify the charities’ fund allocations or administrative costs. More information about giving, for this and other causes, is available online from the GuideStar database on nonprofit agencies.
The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Philippine Red Cross are both accepting donations and coordinating disaster relief on the ground throughout much of the central Philippines. The local branch of the organization is posting updates on Facebook and Twitter.
The World Food Program, which provides emergency food aid to families and children, is accepting donations online and through PayPal.
The Philippine branch of Unicef, the United Nations Children’s Fund, says that children affected by the typhoon need urgent access to drinkable water, medical supplies, food and shelter. It is accepting donations online as part of an emergency typhoon appeal.
Catholic Relief Services has dispatched a team to the area affected by the storm, but said travel to the most hard-hit cities and towns was “extremely slow” because of damaged infrastructure and debris-clogged roads. It is accepting donations online.
The Philippine branch of Caritas, a Catholic charity, is accepting donations online and via wire transfers. It is posting updates on Twitter.
Oxfam reports that it has “three assessment teams in the field and is currently preparing 16 tons of aid for immediate shipment to the region,” and aims “to ensure access for 20,000 of the most vulnerable families to safe water, sanitation facilities, and enable people to protect themselves from public health risks.” The charity is accepting online donations.
Save the Children is accepting donations online to respond to the needs of children and families. The group said that 10 percent of each donation will be set aside to help prepare for future emergencies.
The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders),explains on its website that it has emergency teams in Cebu (the Philippine city with the nearest fully operational airport to the disaster area) and expects “to have a medical team on the ground tomorrow, Tuesday, in Tacloban, a town devastated when the typhoon first struck the coast.”
Action Against Hunger reports that its local experts in the Philippines “were able to mount an immediate emergency response, with teams carrying out initial surveys to assess needs while preparing distributions of drinking water and survival kits containing buckets, soap, and chlorine tablets.”
The Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development is seeking volunteers and accepting donations to respond to the typhoon’s destruction. Donations are accepted online. It is also posting updates about relief efforts toTwitter.
Gawad Kalinga, a Philippine nonprofit dedicated to fighting poverty, is accepting monetary donations as well as nonperishable goods such as children’s vitamins, rice, kitchen utensils and blankets. The group is accepting donations via credit card through its “give now” page. It is also posting updates on Facebook and Twitter.
The United States State Department announced a partnership on Monday withThe mGive Foundation Philippines Typhoon Disaster Relief Fund, organized by the mGive Foundation, an American 501c3 public charity that collects donations for victims of the typhoon via mobile phone. Wireless subscribers can text AID to 80108 to give a $10 donation, which will appear on the donor’s wireless bill or be deducted from their prepaid balance.
The International Rescue Committee, now led by David Miliband, Britain’s former foreign secretary, is also accepting donations in support of its efforts to bring humanitarian assistance to typhoon victims.

Finding a Loved One
If you are looking for information about a specific person in an area affected by the typhoon, Google has set up a person finder page, which can also be accessed by mobile device or text message. If you have information about a specific person affected by the typhoon, you can also use the person finder page to share it.
For New Yorkers
As NBC News reports, there are more than three million Filipino-Americans and the community is actively raising money for disaster relief. New Yorkers can attend coming fund-raisers at Purple Yam, the Ditmas Park restaurant run by Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa, the former proprietors of Cendrillon in SoHo.
Ms. Besa is also organizing a series of dinners in Metro Manila. “The purpose of these dinners,” she explained on Facebook, “is not only to raise money for the people affected by Typhoon Yolanda, but to raise awareness of the effects of climate change, the need to be prepared for future disasters and how we can take control of how our taxes are being spent. The challenge now is how to rebuild what we lost and help restore dignity in the lives of our people in the south and the rest of the country.

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