While the disaster caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines happened on the other side of the world, more or less, its effects have been felt right here in the Bow Valley.
After Haiyan struck, Filipinos here in the valley swung into action, collecting food, clothing, blankets and cash to send home to loved ones and all those affected. Recent reports place the number of dead at 4,000.
“Because of the devastation, we posted a request for help on Facebook and started taking donations just last week,” said Helen O’Neill, a native of the Philippines. “There is a real Filipino community here in the valley and many people have friends and family still there. One friend here has two aunts who died and other family members who are still missing.
“We’ve had a lot of response from many people, including the New Life Centre church, who have donated. The offers to help brought tears to my eyes.”
On Wednesday (Nov. 20), much of what has been gathered was packed up at Canmore’s Sunset Resort, which donated space for the gather of items, to be shipped to the storm-ravaged nation.
“The response has been amazing,” said Arlene Gamboa. “When we asked for help, people just said, ‘what can we do?’ People have been so generous.”
While international news outlets have covered the devastation, Gamboa said she was recently in contact with friends in the Philippines who report a wide-spread disaster.
“They said they’re receiving help from the government, but that it’s like a war zone, there’s so much military everywhere. Some places have no food or water and some parts have water that’s not good, with e coli.
“One friend said their roof was gone and they’re worried about debris everywhere. The smell is getting bad from decomposing bodies and in some areas, they’re moving people to different cities.”
In particular, said O’Neill, Tacloban, outside the capital of Manila, Cebu and Leyte were badly hit. “Our families (O’Neill and Gamboa’s) are fine, but so many people have been hit hard.”
In all, hundreds of dollars in cash has been raised, along with goods collected.
“I can’t express my gratitude enough to the community of the Bow Valley,” said O’Neill. “We would like to say thank you to the Victory Thrift Store for donating bags of clothing and blankets, and friends and family who donated clothing and non-perishable goods.
“Also, I want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Townend, Mr. and Mrs. Whitworth, Arlene and her friends, Maria Rogers and Dani Perkins with New Life for helping us send our 10 boxes to the Philippines.”
