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Helping the Victims

By Jacklyn Stringham
Staff Writer

Typhoon Haiyan devastated the eastern island of Leyte and the coastal city of Tacloban in the Philippines on Nov. 7, 2013. The horrific incident left around 2,000 dead and more than 600,000 families homeless and desperate for help. Now that the typhoon is over, the survivors are taking in all the damage and trying to rebuild their lives. The typhoon is recognized as one of the worst storms ever recorded. What the survivors now need is hope and assistance. Organizations around the world including the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the Red Cross, and Global Giving are lending helping hands to clean up the catastrophic mess.

UNICEF is focusing on the children of the Philippines. It’s new campaign “There for the Philippines” is working toward immediate and long-term relief for the children of the country and their families who were affected by the storm. The organization is asking for donations, which will be used to rush in emergency supplies such as water and medicine. The organization has celebrity supporters, as well. Rihanna is a huge benefactor of the campaign and has donated toward the cause. If anyone wishes to make a donation, it is only a click away. Simply go to http://www.unicef.org/ philippines and choose either “give monthly” or “give one-time” on the left of the screen.

The Red Cross is a well-known organization that has helped millions around the world in need. They help support America’s military families, provide health and safety training and education, are huge providers towards disaster relief, and help those who need blood by holding blood drives all over the country. The Red Cross helps out with over 70,000 natural disasters, fires, floods, earthquakes, and more each year. They were a great help to Hurricane Sandy victims and are now doing the same for the Philippines. Those who wish to donate can at http://www.redcross.org.ph/donate. The money is going toward food and the many other materials the survivors are in need of.

The Global Giving Foundation is also working hard to help those living in despair. The Global Giving Foundation is a fundraising website for charities that gives non-profit organizations and social entrepreneurs around the world the chance to raise money for their cause. All donations made to the non-profits and social entrepreneurs working toward helping the Philippines on Global Giving will support the personal and physical recovery in the country. The Disaster Response Program, a unit that is run by the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA), is managing the relief efforts. The organization is looking to help rebuild the affected areas and help develop a much more improved approach to managing disasters. They believe it is not only important to help improve the condition of the country now, but also help to make sure that this does not happen again. Donations to the Global Giving Organization can be made at http://www.globalgiving.org.

The typhoon has devastated the country, leaving many with nothing. It was only last year that the Tri- state area was hit by Hurricane Sandy. We needed help, and now those living in the Philippines need our help. Donations are extremely important to not only help the survivors get back on their feet, but to also keep them alive. Organizations are doing all that they can, but with our help this tragedy may be over as quickly as it began.

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