Happy to report that Donations have been divided up and given to two reputable charities in Manila: Internationally known UNICEF & local charity Gawad Kalinga....
UNICEF, we all already know and is one of the more reputable International organizations around.... and from what I have gathered and learned, the Philippine Offices are well run and quite trustworthy, too.... and upon setting foot at their offices personally - I was impressed... organization quite apparent and the people I got to meet and talked with, quite nice, focused and knowledgeable. And I specially love the fact that, not only have they been helping Yolanda victims non-stop - also that they focus a lot on the children affected by the Typhoon... those who cannot just help themselves, but could not even ask for help to begin with.
At first, half of the funds was to be donated through RED CROSS - but with the recent backlash against the people running RED CROSS in the Philippines, I thought it wise to go with a more reputable one, Gawad Kalinga. The organization has been helping out the poor and calamity victims throughout the country since 1995. I have heard nothing but good thing about the organization - first hand reports from friends who have both followed and donated over the years... as well as, friends who have volunteered with the organization.... For their part, not only have they been personally dispatching food packs, they also have been helping build homes for the victims throughout the region.
I really feel that we have made the right charity choices and could not be happier that our monies will be put to where we want them to go - helping the Haiyan Typhoon Victims.
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Once again, I want to thank you all for your Kindness and Generosities. We were able to raise a total of Php140,000.00 (a little over US$3200.00) - Php70,000 were given to each charity organization.
