Projects
Jan 29th, 2014 by Jiuwei Yin
Typhoon Haiyan
Typhoon Haiyan is one of the most intense typhoons on record to date. It has taken thousands of lives, left roughly 600,000 people homeless, and more than 2 million people require food aid, including new mothers or pregnant women, all according to the Philippine Government. Even these figures can rise as the enormity of the destruction of the typhoon is still unclear.
It’s hard to imagine the disasters abroad from our homes. Nevertheless, these people need immediate relief. The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Philippines, Luiza Carvalho, announced that it would take $301 million to effectively help the 11.3 million people affected by the typhoon in the initial six months.
GIG was able to engage the Williams community to offer monetary relief at the troubled sites. Through an online fundraiser, we raised over $3000 from 75 funders in a week. We decided on such a short time span for the fund raising due to the urgency of the situation and the hope to send the money as soon as possible.
Our efforts do not end here. We will be working closely with the Center for Learning in Action and the Chaplain’s office to continue our community’s engagement in the humanitarian relief for Typhoon Haiyan.