Fortunately, a fellow church friend, Honduras orphanage philanthropist, and 6th grade school teacher at Lyons Central School in upstate, NY did.

His name is Eric Lewis… and a few months ago after a liturgy at St. Michael’s Parish he told my mom that he thought the 6th graders at his school could help raise some relief funds for the Philippines typhoon victims by knocking on doors and asking for pennies. Within weeks the 6th graders had raised 24,500 pennies… the equivalent of $245!

When I was home in NY for Christmas I saw Eric at church and asked him why he was so interested in helping out the Philippines typhoon victims. After all, he was heavily involved with CasaDelNinoHonduras.org — a non-profit that provides for over 20 orphans in Honduras.

In short, Eric recognized that “the needs there [in the Philippines] are staggering” and he liked the idea of knowing exactly where the donations would go. That way, the American 6th graders could experience an early lesson in helping strangers in a faraway country — and they could see first hand how a small effort can make a meaningful difference.

But shortly after the pennies were collected and counted, the urgency in the Philippines seemed to have died down. We had already distributed $3,000 of our funds to three great causes… and the situation just did not seem as urgent as the weeks immediately following the typhoon (at least from my little bubble in Austin, TX).

While we were looking for the best place to distribute the $245 worth of pennies, an earthquake devastated poverty-stricken Haiti.  Once again, Eric recognized the greater need, and his class decided to contribute $100 worth of their penny funds to the Red Cross Haitian Relief.

That leads us up to today…

Thanks to my friends James and Riza, we were able to donate $145 worth of pennies to help restock a school that was all but destroyed in Marikina, Philippines with everything from chairs and tables to books and flashcards.  In the next post I’ll share the details on this relief effort so you can see how far 14,500 pennies can go.

In the meantime, I want to personally thank Eric and the 6th graders at his school for thinking of our friends in the Philippines. I don’t remember ever doing anything like this when I was in school.  Maybe we did and I just forgot.  Either way, if just a handful of these students remember how their simple penny drive helped restock a desperate school in a faraway country, imagine what a difference these kids could make when they’re all grown up…

-Greg

Please note that I left out the names of my friends who sent me this update. I have also used ¨Maggie¨ as the name of the victim to protect her privacy. If you made a donation and you want to know all the details, please send me an email and let know and I will be happy to share with you.  I just don´t want to post them on the web site.

Here is the update…

¨Maggie’s family is from the Visayas region in the Philippines.

She moved to Pampanga a little over a year ago to work in the call center industry after college. Her family followed a few months later. About 8 months ago she moved to a Manila call center, her family following her.

She is the eldest child out of 6 — 4 girls 2 boys. Her father is an electrician that fixes things people bring him, so it’s not a steady stream of income.

Maggie is the main source of income for the family at the moment. The next kid in line is her sister who is 19 but is not in college because they can’t afford books (tuition is free).  The next is her brother who is in his last year of high school, then a 14 year old girl and the youngest is a 4 year old girl.

Maggie invited us to her neighborhood to show us around and to see how bad the floods were. The government has finally finished cleaning the garbage and most of the mud.

The whole town still has that dusty look to it.  She took us by one village that got hit the hardest where most of the deaths in Manila occurred.

When she showed us the roof where her family stayed for 2 days while waiting for rescue I was shocked… absolutely shocked. Her dad made a little boat out of empty 5 gallon water bottles to get his family, one member at a time, from their house to this rooftop, which was the closest thing above water. This roof was at the top of a 2 story building.

It was almost hard to believe that the water was that high. Then we turned down her street to get to her village, it was all downhill… literally. It was hard to wrap my brain around how deep the water must have been. Her father pointed to gigantic mango trees and said they were completely underwater for days… it was pretty crazy.

Maggie was actually at work when the floods came, so by the time she went home it was too late to get to her family. She herself had to swim to the evacuation center. She did not hear from her family for over two days — she had no idea if they were alive. (That part of the story was hard to hear from her).

How we are helping Maggie? She took out a loan to get the family back on their feet. Their old house they rented was completely ruined as it was filled with mud. So they moved to an area in the Manila area that rebounded quicker. Their new house is a small concrete room, and was also underwater and full of mud, but since it is concrete they were able to clean it easily.

It did not appear to have electricity yet, although I’m sure her Dad will get creative with resolving that issue.

So most of the $600 will go to paying back her loan. Despite seeing a naked kid running around (4yr old maybe?) she said her call center teammates all donated clothes for everybody in the family, and that they were fine on that front.

We’re buying 3 mattresses (I know, you’re thinking why 3 when there are 8 people living in the house… that’s all there is room for, it’s a tiny place).

She said she will buy rice with the money that’s left over. They have not been able to feed the entire family on a steady basis since the storm.

We talked to her and her father about his work. I figured since he works out of his home he probably lost his tools and equipment required to do his job. He did. He’s had to turn away business because he does not have the tools needed.

There are hundreds of people in the area that need their appliances fixed from the floods, but he has to turn most of the work away because he doesn’t have the basic tools any electrician would have.

We are looking to replace the tools he lost. We figured if we can get him back in business he can help get the family going again, get his daughter in college, and take some pressure off Maggie… who is only 22. So if there are still funds remaining and you agree that is a good way to spend it, we’ll take it.

It’s been a great thing that this whole group has done. You have no idea how much of an impact we are having on their lives. The looks on their faces when they hear how much we can help is priceless… it really is. Thanks again to everybody.¨

Since this update we´ve sent over more of the funds we´ve raised to help Maggie´s father purchase tools for his electrician work.

-Greg

Little by little we’re getting up there. We’re now at $3,398 in donations… on our way to $4,000 by the end of next week.

As of today, we’ve sent $3,000 over so far:

• $1,000 – These funds went to Ortigas Center, Manila relief ops at Telus call center. Our contribution went into a pool of money being used to help out those in most need.
• $1,600 – These funds were going to go to relief ops in Makati at eTelecare but a life-threatening situation came up in Central Luzon. We sent the funds there to help fund a life-saving operation for a typhoon victim there. The man’s wife thought she had lost him in the mud slides that resulted from typhoon rain. She found him but his leg was infected and if he didn’t have an operation to remove it soon he would die. He had the operation and our funds are going to pay for the hospital bill and hopefully help get the family back on their feet. There’s a compelling personal story involved that I can’t post on this site for privacy reasons. If you made a donation, you received the email from me telling you about this.  We’ll send more funds to this family as we raise them.
• $400 - These funds went toward another individual emergency, similar to the story above, but in the Manila area. Click here to view the details.

Thank you to everyone who is helping by praying, donating, or just spreading the word online to your friends who may be interested in helping too.

-Greg

Emma (blonde) with Riza (all the way to the left) and James (all the way to the right)

“I first came to the Philippines exactly a year ago. This is now my third trip here. I consider myself a pretty well travelled individual, but I am always struck by the poverty surrounding me here and how lucky we are back home to live the way we do. Its funny how much we can take for granted until we see what others do not have an option to have.

Even though people may have less here, they always seem to be happy and have a smile on their face. The people of the Philippines are known for their politeness and hospitality. The workers at the hotel greet you whenever you pass by them and there are at least 15 to 20 people I walk by when I leave my hotel room. I have never met a more friendly people—they definitely go out of their way to make me feel welcomed in their country. I always look forward to these trips a couple times a year and have made some very good friends over the past year here.

I am writing this when I should be asleep because it is very late in Austin and I have to go to work in just a few hours. When I am in Manila, I work at nights because I work with a call center here which is open during US hours so we can service the American consumer population. I am not sure how the locals here do it; work long hours during the night and sleep only four or five hours during the day. The city isn’t quiet either during the day which makes it even harder to sleep. There are many people I work with here that have children and sleep even less so they can spend more time with their children before and after school.

I expected to see a lot of damage from the recent flooding but most of it has been cleaned up now in Manila. I have heard that there are heaps of trash in Marikina (Football fields full of trash)which is one of the lower lying Provence of Manila, where a lot of people belongings were dumped. The only other remnants of the severe storm are on hillsides where the earth and trees have been pulled up from mudslides. It rained so much that the earth became so saturated it couldn’t absorb any more water. The earth became unstable and created huge and catastrophic mud slides. In the more rural areas outside metropolitan Manila, many homes were completely wiped away by these mud slides.

I am meeting with some people at the Ortigas, Manila center tomorrow where we donated $1,000 to their relief efforts. I’ll check on things. More to come…”

Emma sent me a note the next day with this info:

“The $1,000 we donated got put in with the money that Telus had raised as well and went towards people who lost a lot in the flood (appliances, beds and household goods). Telus first put a list together and categorized people based off severity of what they had lost so that the people who lost the most got assistance first.”

Riza and James are two of my friends living in Pampanga, Philippines. They're overwhelmed with the amount of help needed for the typhoon/mudslide victims. Right now, they're raising money to help fund a life-saving operation for the husband of a woman at one of the call centers James and I worked with. If you'd like to help, please say a prayer for this man or make a donation toward his operation.

Just a few days ago, one of my friends and former co-workers, James Keating, told me that several people at the call center where I used to work in Pampanga (hours away from Manila) didn’t just lose some family members — they lost their entire family in the mudslides that hit a mountainous city called Baguio.

These are people he works with now, so he’s been compelled to help in any way he can. Since James lives in the Philippines now, he’s been volunteering his time and financial support to the victims — but he’s getting overwhelmed with the amount of relief needed for these people.

I didn’t realize how bad the situation was outside of Manila — and that the typhoon took a harder toll on my friends’ families from this remote call center than it did in the Manila centers where I worked. But I’m glad I know now, because we have a real opportunity to save lives… not just help rebuild them.

Right now, according to James, the most urgent need is medical attention and cleaning supplies because of the flood-born disease that is rapidly spreading.

Because of the remote location of these mudslide victims, getting relief isn’t as available as it is in a large city like Manila. My sister-in-law, Becky, has volunteered to head-up a project that will help get these medical/cleaning supplies to James. More on this later.

In the meantime, I learned that of the people that have survived the mudslides, one man has an immediate need to have his infected leg removed before he dies.

This man was washed away in the mudslides and his wife thought she had lost him… but I believe by the grace of God he was found alive — and now he has a chance to be saved.

The man’s wife works in the Pampanga-based call center that I worked with. James told me that they’re trying to raise money to fund his operation through cake sales.

He doesn’t know how much the operation is yet, but due to the urgent need for this life-saving operation, it seems like we should prioritize saving lives over rebuilding them if we can. Therefore, this man will receive $1,600 of the funds we’ve raised at SocialDonating.org.

This wouldn’t have been possible without your prayers and donations.

I just wanted to give you an update on this and let you know that your support is truly going toward a great cause. I can’t say thank you enough for your compassion for these people that you don’t even know.

If you’ve got time to say a quick prayer for this man, pass along this story, or make a $5 donation, it can help this man more than you may realize.

Thank you.

-Greg

Morris Gage (on right) hiking through a jungle in Costa Rica

Morris Gage is one of the nicest guys I know.

He’s a good friend of my dad’s from upstate, NY — and he was a huge influence in the development of the soccer teams at my high school back in the day.

He also makes the best hot chicken jerky I’ve ever had.  My coworkers agree — last Christmas we gathered money together and tried placing an order for some of Mo’s jerky.

We were amazed that he turned us down: “Sorry guys, but I just do this for a hobby… and your order would take me about 2 weeks. Work is really busy now.”

That was the last I heard from Morris about his jerky… until 3 weeks ago.

Morris sent me an email saying he heard about what we were doing for our Filipino friends and that he wanted to help. He offered to make $150 – $200 worth of jerky for us to sell to our friends and coworkers, giving 100% of the proceeds to our typhoon victims fund.

The jerky arrived and we sold $120 worth in the first day. That $120 puts us over the $2,500 donation mark which is awesome.

We still have $150 worth of Mo’s jerky to sell… so in total Morris’ contribution will net us $270 for the typhoon victims. This is really generous, because it cost him money to make it… ship it… and of course, all the time he put into it.

I just want to give a big thank you to Morris and to also let anyone else out there know that if you have a talent or a hobby you can certainly put it to work for a great cause and make a difference.

Becky illustrated this with her painting giveaway (which drove awareness), and Morris illustrated it with his jerky sale (which raised funds).

Those two are the perfect examples of “offline donors” and I just want to say ‘thanks’ again and encourage others to get involved too.

-Greg

P.S. I mentioned I still have some of Mo’s Jerky. If you’re in Austin and you want some, it’s $15 a bag and worth every penny. Remember, 100% goes to a good cause… and this is the best stuff you’ll ever eat.

I have to warn you though:

1) It’s hot and spicy (awesome)
2) Morris doesn’t do this as a business (although we’re encouraging him to)… so when you get addicted to it and it’s all gone you’re out of luck.

Pam Ells! From Hall, NY. Congratulations Pam. Thanks for supporting the typhoon victims.

Here’s a link to the live video of the raffle.

#Live Video of Rebecca Pulling the Winner out of a Hat#

– Dave

Cecile will put a collection jar out at her garage sale to help raise awareness and funds for Philippines typhoon victims.

My friend and coworker, Cecile, will be putting out a collection jar at her garage sale tomorrow in Austin to help raise awareness and funds for the Philippines typhoon victims.

I think that is a great example of how anyone can help out without much extra effort at all.

Who knows how much she will raise from the collection jar, but the thought is really nice… and remember, anything at all will help.

BTW, if you are in Austin, you might want to check out the garage sale yourself.  See her ad on Craigslist here.

Thanks, Cecile!

-Greg

Anyways, David says that another typhoon is hitting Manila right now. Fortunately, he didn’t think this one is going to be as bad.

David and Velvet (one of my Filipina friends on the left side of this web site) are who I’m coordinating with to provide relief funds for the flood victims in the Makati center.

I worked with both David and Velvet for three years. They were some of my closest friends over there. They’re both admired leaders at the call center where they work — and from my experience, they’re always putting ”their people” first. That’s a big reason why I wanted to coordinate with them for our relief effort.

Anyways, a couple days ago I gave you an update on the Ortigas Center relief operation… just wanted to fill you in on the Makati relief ops (that’s where David and Velvet are). Hopefully I’ll have more info to share next week.

Please continue to keep our Filipino friends in your prayers. Hopefully this typhoon passes without causing much more damage.

Click here for info on the typhoon.  Alternatively, you can look always see the latest Philippines typhoon news on the right hand side of SocialDonating.org.

-Greg

The first call center that I helped launch for Dell over in the Philippines was  with an outsource partner called Ambergris — located in Ortigas Center, Manila.

Only days after Typhoon Ketsana hit the Philippines, TIP team members tirelessly prepare relief goods for their affected teammates.

A year before I left Dell, Ambergris got bought out by Telus – the Toronto-based telecom. Scores of my Filipino friends from the “Ambergris days” still work at that center. One of them, who I’m working directly with to coordinate the distribution of $1,000 of our relief funds, just sent me an interesting email he received.

It looks like the information was originally intended for employees at the Canada-based Telus call center. It then got passed along to the Manila-based Telus call center… and then forwarded to me.

The purpose of the email is to provide a quick summary of the relief ops taking place in the Manila center (formerly known as Ambergris).

I wanted to share this update with you because the first $500 that we sent in relief money went to this relief operation. A second $500 will be going there as well. Hopefully more will be going as well.

With the exception of one person, I used different names to protect the privacy of the call center employees in this update.

Here’s the message:

Picking Up the Pieces after Ketsana — Team members begin the journey to recovery

October 23, 2009

Carlo, senior team captain Telus International Philippines (TIP), had never been so scared. As Typhoon Ketsana pummeled homes throughout his Manila neighborhood, he feared for his ailing father and nieces and nephews. As they waited for rescue, he didn’t eat for two days so his family would have enough.

The emotional trauma also still lingers for Vera, customer service agent, TIP.

“We practically had no food for three days, other than a small supply of noodles we had to carefully ration, not knowing when we would be able to escape,” Vera recalls. “There was also the constant fear of drowning. The water rose by the hour and we had absolutely no chance of escaping our second floor because the windows were blocked by grills.”

Making a difference for Manila team members
More than 1,000 team members from TIP were affected by Typhoon Ketsana, a storm that swept through the Philippines on September 26.

The view outside the front door of a house during Ketsana

In just 24 hours, Manila was saturated by more than 300 mm of rain, the most rainfall in a single day since 1965. The government declared a state of emergency and requested international aid as heavy flooding submerged the densely populated area and a subsequent storm, Typhoon Parma, threatened the northern regions of the country.

On the Monday after the storm, Telus International was one of the first organizations in Manila to broadcast using text messages and local media, requesting that team members call in to confirm they were safe and if they needed assistance.

Through these open lines of communication, TIP leadership was able to determine that more than 300 hundred team members had been left homeless and an additional 500 had suffered some level of material or property loss.

“Just when I thought no one cared about our plight, we got a text from Telus asking us about our condition and offering to give us whatever assistance we need.” Vera adds, “I broke into tears because I felt the sincerity and genuine concern my own company has for me and my family. My husband, who works for another call centre, was overwhelmed with all the help Telus was extending to its team members.”

In the immediate aftermath of the storm, TIP provided team members with food and transportation from transport hubs to Telus facilities, while arranging for emergency accommodations for team members left homeless. Telus has also provided emergency cash advances to team members in dire need.

“We have given away more than 1,000 relief bags so far, which speaks to how many team members have been very badly hit by the storm,” says [name withheld], vice-president of Human Resources at TIP. “Today we are focusing our efforts on helping with rehabilitation.”

This rehabilitation includes getting team members’ homes cleaned, providing secondary assistance and shelter until people can find a new place to stay, and assessing furniture and appliance needs to get team members back on their feet.

Making a difference for Manila team members
While Telus in Canada has provided support for our team members, many Manila-based team members have also gone above and beyond in helping their local colleagues cope with this disaster.

Family members of one of our friends at the call center make their way to work, wading through the flood waters.

TIP team members Marge and Nanette opened their homes to three of their teammates after Ketsana. Marge hosted the team members for two days and Nanette for a week until the flood subsided.

Nanette adds, “It’s the least that I could do as their support person. These agents never missed a shift even while Ketsana was flooding the city; they even signed up for overtime work to cover for those team members who could not make it in. Offering my home as their temporary shelter was just an extension of our teamwork, circumstances aside.”

Canadian team members continue to reach out
The spontaneous outpouring of support from Canadian-based team members has been impressive, with various fundraising initiatives taking place in Consumer Solutions, Business Solutions, Partner Solutions and Business Transformation and Technology Operations.

Here are some more photos of call center employees packing the typhoon "survival kits" for their fellow agents in need.

“We’ve seen support from teams in Canada that really want to help their colleagues here in Manila,” says [name withheld], director for Client Care TIP. “The team here is overwhelmed by the support and what it means to be a member of the Telus team. We’ve been guiding team members and others to direct their fundraising contributions to the HSBC bank account collecting money to help our Manila team members.”

While Ketsana’s destruction was swift, the recovery effort will take years.

“The damage caused by typhoon Ketsana across Metro Manila was significant and has materially impacted the personal lives of many of our team members,” confirms Javier Infante, president Telus International Philippines.

“However, spirited teamwork was truly alive in Telus as we witnessed team members volunteer their time in packing relief bags and offer up their homes as temporary shelters to team members who needed help.

Others helped in the rehabilitation efforts by repairing flood damage and cleaning up team members’ homes. On behalf of the Telus Philippines team, I want to thank every member of the Telus team – in Manila and other parts of the world – who reached out to help financially or otherwise. This is spirited teamwork at its best.”

This update was signed from a Nicole [last name withheld]. I’m guessing she’s an employee for Telus Canada. The photos above were provided in both Nicole’s email and in a separate email I received from a friend on site in the Manila center.

I’m working directly with a few people on site in this Manila call center in Ortigas Center  to get the relief funds we raised to right place. One of them is the VP of Human Resources mentioned above.

From an outsider looking in at this update, a lot of the talk about ‘teamwork’ may seem like a bunch of corporate PR mumbo-jumbo. If I didn’t personally know Javi and know that his words are genuine, I might think so too.

But part of what made it so rewarding for me to work with Javi and his employees at the Manila Ambergris/Telus call center was the exact “spirited teamwork” that he’s talking about.

When the agents above are saying how proud they are to work for that company, I believe it: the call center culture in general — and specifically at sites like Amergris/Telus and eTelecare — seem more like working with your family than a cold corporation. And for me, that’s one of the biggest reason I’m trying to raise funds… because over 300 of my “family” at this call center just lost their homes.

I want to thank you again for your prayers, your donations, and for your volunteering to help spread the word about this cause through email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Our $1,000 contribution to this relief project sure doesn’t seem like a lot when looking at how much these people just lost – but it’s $1,000 that they wouldn’t have if we didn’t step up and help out. And according to my brother Dave’s calculations from the USDA announcement yesterday that $8.5 million will help feed 438,000 people over 60 days, it could cost as little as $0.32 cost per day to feed one person. That sounds like a stretch to me… but even if the real number is 10 times that figure, it would cost $3.20 a day to feed someone. If that’s true, then our $1,000 contribution could feed 312 people for one day — or one person for 312 days. However you look at it, your contribution is helping… and you can see how we still have work to do.

So I encourage you to continue spreading the word if you can. The easiest thing you can do to help right now is to share this web site or this post with anyone else you think could get involved.  How? At the bottom of each post there’s a “Share this” button that lets you share it to social media sites or send by email in a matter of seconds. Please take a few seconds to pass this along. Thanks again.

-Greg

P.S. The best way to stay updated on our relief efforts is to sign up for our email mailing list. Instead of having to come to this web site to check for updates, I’ll email them to directly to your inbox (no more than once a day).  Sign up right here.

This donation should help provide food and drink to 438,000 “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” flood victims for 60 days.

The U.S. Agriculture Secretary said:

The food aid I am announcing today will help the people in the most need of assistance, and as a long-standing friend and partner of the Philippines, the U.S. stands ready to continue our cooperation and assistance in the future.

Get the full story here.

Art is making a free iPhone application called "FilipinoFloodRelief"

My buddy Art volunteered to create a free iPhone application for Social Donating.

It’s called “FilipinoFloodRelief” — and it’ll pretty much be the same thing as this web site, but tailored to iPhone users.

I don’t have an iPhone so I’m not that familiar with applications.

But since Art volunteered to make this app — and since it could help raise awareness to people we would otherwise not be able to reach — it’ll only help.

He just started developing  it today, so it’s not ready yet.

We’ll let y’all know when it’s ready so any iPhone users out there can check it out.

-Greg

P.S.  Get all the updates about our relief efforts — including inspiring stories from both “social donors” and typhoon victims — by subscribing to our email mailing list. Click here and enter your email address.

• My family would help out
• My friends would help out

Sure enough, they did… and within 24 hours we had raised $500.

Today, less than 2 weeks later, we’re at $2,000. This is fantastic. I want to thank you all for your generous contributions and for spreading the word.  Every quarter DID indeed help.

To make things even better, I’ve started to receive donations from people I don’t even know. I’ll tell you their stories below. It seems like each one of them had some sort of tie to the Philippines…

For example, a “Dan” from California donated the other day. I emailed him and asked him why he donated and how he heard about us. Here’s what he said:

Hi Greg I was reading on the web then I saw your story I have relatives in Vigan  I  know  how  wonderful  the  people in the Philippines are and they seem to be neglected by most of the world that I thought the least I can do  is donate something I am glad I saw your site and I will tell others Thanks for caring about the Philippines.

Then, after the KVUE broadcast the other night I received several donations from fellow Austinites that I don’t know.

Judy saw our story on KVUE and decided to get involved!

Judy shared that she has friends in the Philippines who she thinks about all the time. She donated both prayers and money.

Here’s what she left on the “Prayer Wall” of our Facebook group:

Just wanted to say I too have friends in the Philippines who were devastated by Typhoon Ondoy. I check the weather everyday there to make sure my dear friend is safe. I donated a little money, I’m sorry it wasn’t more, but everyone there is in my prayers each and every day. Please be safe everyone…

Another “social donor” who discovered us on KVUE is Juan.

I don’t know him personally, but he’s helping the Philippines typhoon victims through his donation and by spreading the word.

I asked him how he found us and why he donated. Here’s what he said:

Well greg I saw your story on KVUE last night. But I really wish I could have donated more, I told all my co-workers about what your doing and I think they wanna help. The reason I choose to donate was just how much I saw that people over there needed basic essential everyday things. I know how fast money adds up when a lot of people pitch in little by little. Good luck with the rest of the project and god bless.

Wow, Juan was right abut how fast donations add up.

Then there’s Joanna, another Austinite who I don’t personally know.

She just got back from SE Asia and fell so much in love with it that she felt compelled to help out.

Joanna found us from the KVUE news prog

Joanna’s one of our “online volunteers” because she’s spreading the word about SocialDonating.org on her Facebook. She also donated money. Here’s what she said:

I just saw your story on KVUE. I was just in SE Asia. While I did not get directly affected by the typhoon, hearing the stories was very moving. Thanks for creating this site! I will definitely donate.

Joanna shared some cool photos with me from her travels around SE Asia. She actually didn’t even make it to the Philippines but was so moved by the other Asian countries that she wanted to get involved.

Thank you everyone and please keep spreading the word… the stories above are a testament that our efforts are indeed working.

-Greg

P.S. I really hope to have some relief updates to you all soon. We’ve got so many donor stories, it’d be nice to hear how your donations are helping.  I’m working on this and will get you updates as soon as I have them. Thanks again everyone!

Kathryn helps us get the word out to Daily Messenger subscribers

Kathryn Rybczak – from the Canandaigua, NY-based Daily Messenger — took the time to interview me last week.

Like Gwen (Chronicle Express) and Jim (KVUE News), Kathryn asked a lot of great questions and showed a genuine interest in helping us convey our message about getting relief to the Philippines typhoon victims — whether that means donating money, spreading the word online, raising funds offline, or saying a prayer for our Filipino friends.

The article is online right now and was published on the front page of one of the sections in yesterday’s edition of the Daily Messenger.  Click here to read it.

Any media attention we can get will help expand our typhoon relief efforts.

Thanks Kathryn!

-Greg

P.S. Do you want to help get the word out? Use the “Share this” button below to repost this story on your Facebook profile or email it to your friends.  Even if just 1 out of 100 of your friends gets inspired enough to do the same, it’ll help us out.

KVUE news anchor and report, Jim Bergamo, helps us spread the word about the Philippines typhoon victims who need help right now

Jim Bergamo – from the Austin, TX-based KVUE news team — took the time to interview my brother and I on Monday to help raise awareness for the Philippines typhoon victims.

The TV interview aired Monday evening and is in their online archives right now. Click here to watch the news piece and read the article.

I think they did a great job helping us tell the story.

Any media attention we can get will help expand our typhoon relief efforts.

Thanks Jim (and John, the camera man)!

-Greg