Sending Prayers and Concrete Help to the Philippines: Bayanihan’ Spirit

Image: American Red Cross

Yesterday, Veteran's Day, was a sad day for me. I remembered my Dad, who passed away this year, who was a WW2 Vet and stationed in the Philippines. I remember him telling me stories about his experience there , one poignant story about going into a rural village and finding it destroyed. He and his fellow soldiers found a church bell in the jungle and returned it to the villagers who were overjoyed to have it although the church itself was destroyed.

Almost twenty years ago, he took trip back to that rural village and my sister-in-law, who is from the Philippines snapped this photo. She and her family live in the US now and like many American Filipinos they are rushing to send aid to their homeland. There is "Bayanihan' Spirit" or the Flippino word for community which includes lots grassroots fundraising through smaller nonprofits and the church.

Large organizations like the ones identified by in this Huffington Post list of charities are also raising money and mobilizing relief efforts, including the Red Cross and Save the Children.

My nonprofit technology, Shai Coggins, who is also Filipino and lives in Australia, wrote this post about the devastation of a massive typhoon that hit her homeland when Typhoon Haiyan (or Yolanda, as known locally) hit a few days ago. While her family and friends back home her safe, seeing the photos and updates on social media feeds made her hurt heavy. "Thoughts and prayers are good, but I also believe in doing something else – no matter how little. Small actions can make a difference."

She knows many of the NGOs on the ground there. She wants to donate, she wants to help and she wrote this useful guideline for giving:

1. I’d like my donation to go directly to the aid of the people affected by Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. That’s why I passed up on organisations whose “donate” button sent me to a general “international crisis” fund.

2. I want to donate to a local organisation who’s already doing the work in the affected areas. Reading news articles that pointed me to organisations who are already sending in people and aid made me look at their work more closely. This way, I can just support what they’ve started.

3. I need the donation process to be simple and straightforward, and one I can help to promote to others who might want to donate too.That’s why I liked donation pages that offer several options to send in the money – from Paypal and online credit cards to cheques and bank transfers.

She, herself, has chosen to support to the Philippine Red Cross but also points to this article about how to help from CNN. When a disaster strikes, I always make a donation or if it strikes close home will do my online fundraiser on behalf of a relief organizations. One of my go to sources for advice here in the US is the Network for Good site. And since I know many of the people who work at the American Red Cross and respect their work, that's the organization I'll donate to.

What small action will you take to help people in the Philippines? If you are making a donation large or small, what organization are you supporting?

Join me on tomorrow right here on my profile to discuss charitable giving in the Philippines, #GivingTuesday, and how I'm inviting Conan O'Brien to "get out the give' for #GivingTuesday on Wednesday 11/13 at 1 p.m. EST.

You can join the conversation here: www.dhirubhai.net/in/bethkanter

Help us spread the word by sharing:

#GivingTuesday LinkedIn chat Wed. 11/13 at 1pm EST Q&A w/ #philanthropy innovator @kanter @GivingTues https://linkd.in/17sjwfn