In times of crisis, Filipinos do hold their hands and work together for the common good. It is quite overwhelming to witness such a cooperation unfold. What started off as an appeal to pray for the flood victims in the Philippines turned out to be a demonstration of compassion and solidarity amongst Filipinos in GTA.

    In the early afternoon of Saturday September 26, as the first video clips about the ravages of Typhoon Ondoy trickled in from YouTube, BBC and CNN, an email appeal for prayers coming from Manila got its way into the UPAA Toronto e-group.  By nightfall, a consensus amongst the UPAA Council members was building up to heed the appeal and to do something even more. Before midnight, an emergency task force was created and mobilized to sound off a cry for help and to solicit donations.  Fred Gamboa and Malou Parcero, both Council members and officers, lost no time in taking up the challenge. They volunteered to co-chair the task.  As early as 5:00 AM on the following day Sunday, calls were being made, plans were being drawn, and a task force meeting was called.  As well, Rotary Club friends in Manila were contacted to see how assistance could be delivered effectively.

    As an organization, UPAA had neither the experience nor the resources to conduct an emergency task such as this one but that did not stop the spirit and will to help. Announcements were flashed in the UPAA e-group, sounding an appeal for donations.  Realizing its limited resources and inexperience, the Task Force decided to call on Kalayaan Cultural Community Centre and the Filipino Centre Toronto both of which gladly offered partnership. College of the Holy Spirit (CHS) was on board right from the beginning and was instrumental in getting things quickly moving. As well, a conference call between various alumni associations was held on Monday evening. San Beda, Ateneo, Central Philippines University (CPU), UST and Adamson hopped on board.

    As the first few donations and pledges started to flow in, UPAA Council members agreed to have their homes or offices be designated as drop off points for donations.  Some Council members even organized a team across GTA to pick up checks from early donors. Meanwhile, the Information Management Group which has been working on the UPAA website enhancement project hastily diverted its efforts towards quickly building an on-line donation facility where donors could send money easily. It was three days of intense heavy lifting work to build from scratch an infrastructure that would send out appeals and receive donations.

    Early on, a target was set to raise $2,000, and to send it out to Manila quickly.  That target was surpassed only after a few days.  A new target was set at $5,000.  That too was reached after one week. Donations were coming in from everywhere, mostly from GTA but a few from Vancouver, Chicago and LA.  Soon, donations and pledges were closing in on $8,000.  CHS and UPAA planned for a jamming session to help raise more funds.  It was held at the Kalayaan Center in Mississauga last Friday October 9. The expectation was to get an attendance of around 50 people. That turned out to be the understatement of the year. Close to 200 people actually showed up, Filipinos from everywhere, forking out $15 for entrance and dinner.  Doing their share, about a dozen Filipino restaurants and caterers across GTA heeded the call and donated all the food for dinner that evening worth over a thousand dollars.  By evening’s end, cash donations were over $11,000. Noteworthy was San Beda’s cash contribution of $2,191 and CPU’s $600.  As of this writing, the fund has passed the $13,000 mark. We hope to hit $15,000 by month’s end.

    Where to channel donations to ensure every dollar gets to the victims without delay and diversion? This question faced the Task Force right at the start.  Due diligence was conducted. Friends from Rotary Cubs in Manila were consulted. The Philippine National Red Cross sent a message via a Washington DC connection suggesting itself as the proper conduit. Suggestions from Torontonians were considered.  Finally, after a lengthy meeting with its Executive Director, ShareLife was chosen to receive the Ondoy Relief Funds and channel donations to Manila. On October 9 during the overflowing jamming session at the Kalayaan Centre and witnessed by nearly 200 people that included the Consul General, the first check in the amount of $7,500 was turned over to ShareLife.

UPAA’s Task Force, in cooperation with various organizations, is not the only organized effort to offer assistance for the flood victims of Typhoon Ondoy. There are a few others. ShareLife for example sent out a letter of appeal to all parish churches within the Archdiocese of Toronto. The Dufferin Peel Catholic School Board likewise sent out an appeal through its various schools. Many kind hearted individuals contributed directly through channels such as ShareLife.  Donations in kind were referred to Our Lady of the Assumption parish in Toronto which had the resources to handle donations of food and clothing.
 
What is apparent, and what is really important, is that Filipinos heeded the call, got together on short notice and together worked to provide assistance to our less fortunate kababayans.  This is indeed a tribute to Filipno solidarity.

On December 8, 2009, the second check for $7,500 was handed over ShareLife, thus formally closing the successful UPAA Ondoy Relief Fund campaign.