love PHILIPPINES strength

pag-ibig PILIPINAS lakas (love PHILIPPINES strength)

*please remember to provide your address information when donating so we know where to send the bracelets*

Hi everyone,

We're sure by now we have all seen and are informed about the devastation Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) caused in the Philippines. Here are some stats for you:

• $14 Billion (expected cost)
• 600,000+ families displaced (as of 11.13.13)
• 3,621+ dead (as of 11.15.13)
• 12,165+ injured (as of 11.15.13)
• 1,240+ missing (as of 11.15.13)

Many, if not all, of us have already donated to various causes. This fundraiser is no different, except for every $2 donated, we will send you a wristband that looks like the picture you see here. If you donate more than $2 you can give the other bracelets to friends, relatives, co-workers, etc. to show support for the people of the Philippines. If they want to donate $2 to the cause, even better...and we'll send them their own bracelet. We would like to try and reach $2,000 net to donate, which would mean 1,000 bracelets. 1,000 bracelets out in the world showing support for the Philippines would be awesome, but imagine 1 MILLION!

Why $2?

Because every dollar or $2 matters! Your kids could even donate $2 and get a wristband to show support. Why $2 and not $1? The biggest reasons are the processing fees for donating via credit card and cost to produce the bracelets. Plus, what's an extra dollar to you? If we can get to $2,000 raised, we'll order the bracelets ASAP and have them sent your way!

Where will the money go?

May Mayor (Tita May) has graciously volunteered to make sure the funds will go to the right hands. Many charitable causes have large percentages of donations that do not go directly to where they should. This is not the case for us. Tita May's alma mater, St. Scholastica, will be getting the funds raised through this project. Here's what St. Scholastica has done so far: 

There was a St. Scho in Tacloban -- was, because it was destroyed. The nuns there set up a makeshift hospital in another area and became the only operational hospital. Air Asia Zest, which is run by Maan, airlifted the nuns along with relief goods, 100 policemen and aid workers, to Cebu because the Tacloban airport wasn't operational as of yesterday. They were to fly to Tacloban by a C120.

Unfortunately, the first wave of medicines the nuns brought did not reach the hospital as the boxes were looted before they got there. The hospital had to shut down yesterday, with several patients waiting to be attended to.

This didn't dampen their spirits, St. Scho informed all their students that they needed more medicines to send -- our own classmate Marimi got Unilab to donate some medicine and did a "drug drop" last night, to bring the donations to St. Scho. This new batch of donations will be flown this morning via Air Asia hopefully to a town next to Tacloban. My cousin Risa, another Scholastican, is arranging for a helicopter to fly the goods directly to the hospital in Tacloban with some nuns.

Divine Word Hospital in Tacloban run by the SVD and the Benedictine sisters is the only operating hospital in Tacloban at the moment. They have no power and medical supplies are running out. They need sterile dressings, latex gloves, needles, antiseptics and broad spectrum antibiotics like ciprofloxacin and amoxicilin. You can drop these off at St. Scholastica's College Manila

A lot of Organizations have already donated more than I could give. Why should I donate $2, it won't make a difference?

Every little bit helps! $2, $4, $20, anything. Anything we collect will be used responsibly and effectively as you can see from the letter above.

Why the 3 stars on the bracelet?

The three stars, similar to the flag of the Philippines, represent the three major island groups that comprise the country: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

PLEASE DONATE! HELP THE CAUSE AND GET A COOL WRISTBAND OUT OF IT!