By JACKSON WANG
Executive Editor
The images of Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan are unforgettable.
Thousands of homes and businesses are in ruins, while Philippine officials confirmed last week that at least 5,200 lives have been lost and at least 1,000 more are still missing.
Meanwhile, millions of people living in the Philippines are left with little to nothing. But help is coming from around the world, including organizations like UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, and the American Red Cross.
Even one local group in Albany is stepping in to help- Catholic Charities, who’s working with Catholic Relief Services, a group that is already serving the people in the Philippines.
“What Catholic Charities is doing here in the Albany Dioceses is we’re working with parishes and individuals to collect those donations, bundle them all together and give them over to Catholic relief services,” said Paul McAvoy, manager of communications for Catholic Charities.
Many parishes in the Albany Dioceses in Albany County, and the other 13 counties in New York, have already started to collect money to help with the relief efforts. Catholic charities is also working with many other community groups as well to raise money.
“One of the other great things about catholic relief services is that they’re on the ground helping in the Philippines,” said McAvoy.” And as soon as that support comes in, that money gets put to use right away.”
Mary Olsen, director for Catholic Relief Services and disaster responses for the Dioceses of Albany, said that the money will be used to buying items such as portable shelters, cooking supplies, hygienic products, and fresh water.
Olsen said that 100 percent of the donations collect will go towards helping the people in the Philippines.
When the typhoon first hit the islands of the Philippines, Olsen said her “first thoughts were ‘oh my god,’ the devastation, the loss of life, people are not going to know where their family members are, just the chaos.”
But she knew that Catholic Relief Services would be there to help because they were already station in the Philippines. They’ve been there since 1945.
Olsen also knew that raising money for the relief efforts wouldn’t be a problem, especially after seeing what happened when Catholic Charities raised money for the people of Japan after the tsunami hit the northeast Asia country in March of 2011.
“We raised over $250,000 for the tsunami that hit Japan,” said Olsen, confidently that the same could happen with this event.
And even as the Philippines start to clean up and recover, Olsen says reliefs will still be coming in.
“Let’s say money is still trickling in later, we will send that to (Catholic Relief Services) because they’re still going to need that money years to come,” said Olsen. “(The donor’s) money is well spent and they’re affecting lives.”
For more information on Catholic Charities or to make a donation, visit ccrcda.org. Donations can also be made by mail- 40 North Main Ave., Albany, NY 12203.
