Donor, Mr. Lito Garcia visits Bagong Silangan, Quezon City to distribute relief goods, assisted by ERDA Foundation community leaders and volunteers and ABC Foundation.
September 2009, the country was taken by surprise by tropical storm Ondoy, International name, Ketsana. It dealt a devastating blow to parts of Metro Manila and neighboring provinces. Many people lost their homes, their possessions and even their lives, from flash floods or landslides brought on by torrential rains.
Fortunately, response from the government, private organizations and individuals was immediate. Those who were able did their part in helping those in need. Donations in the form or foodstuffs, cash, goods, time and resources poured in from all over the country and from abroad.
A Better Chance Foundation also did its part in coming to the aid of Ondoy victims. We collected donations from different companies and individuals and gave out relief goods to our affected scholars in Taytay, Rizal, Bagong Silangan and San Francisco Del Monte, Quezon City and Pulilan, Bulacan. We distributed relief goods – groceries, used clothing, beddings, medicines, and personal hygiene supplies such as toothbrushes, soap and shampoos.
We teamed up with our partner schools in Siena College, Taytay, Quezon City and St. Dominic in Pulilan, Bulacan to identify families who were affected and gave emergency relief goods to those who needed them most. We did the same for our pre-school and elementary scholars with ERDA Foundation. Our pre-school scholars were among the most needy – all being from Bagong Silangan, one of the areas hit hardest by the typhoon.
Almost all our scholars and their families lived in evacuation centers around the community for a few weeks, with their homes partially or completely destroyed by rising water and everything they had either covered in mud or washed away by the flood.
Fortunately, all of our scholars and their family members survived the tragedy, and all of them have gone back to their normal lives.
We are very grateful for all of the donors who have continually supported us, not only in our regular programs, but also in emergency projects like helping out Ondoy victims. We were overwhelmed with the positive response we received. We received cash, which we used to buy groceries, rice, bottled water, used shoes, clothes, towels, bags, beddings and even 2,000 pieces of ice cream bars.
