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nirmel

Can we as a community think of anything we could do help this situation?

Is anyone helping people locate loved ones?

Is anyone giving people a way to report where help is most needed?

Is anyone giving bystanders like us direction on how we should help?

If funds are needed, is anyone taking charge in rallying the support needed for private donations?

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I'm sending money directly to my sister-in-law's family who had their roof completely blown off (they were further away and not as affected as other regions). That said, many who wish to give don't have direct connections like that. This list of resources was on the original thread about this disaster yesterday:

PeopleLocator (https://pl.nlm.nih.gov/)

Google PersonFinder (http://google.org/personfinder/2013-yolanda/query?role=seek)

alternate source for Google PersonFinder (http://google.org/personfinder/global/home.html)

Red Cross request for help restoring contact (http://familylinks.icrc.org/en/pages/home.aspx) and

If you would like to donate, here are some organizations that could use your help:

Red Cross Philippines (http://www.redcross.org.ph/donate) via Paypal

Ayala Foundation's 'Laging Handa Fund' (Always Ready), overseas donors can use this online portal(http://feedthehungryphil.org/ayala-foundation-inc/) for donations

GlobalGiving.com(http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/philippines-disaster-re...). Credit and debit card donations accepted.

Save the Children (http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.885610...). Save the Children has a team on the ground in Tacloban working to respond to this emergency.

Now isn't the time to help. Enough governments already have relief supplies available for natural disasters so they're already helping. If you really want to help then work on protection against future disasters. People only feel like they care now because it's in the news. The ongoing vulnerability of the Phillipines to natural disasters isn't in the news and people won't care enough to help them prepare before it happens again. A sea wall last week would have been worth a lot more than food today but it's not newsworthy so people didn't contribute.

Give money.

+1. Why money and not stuff? There are literally hundreds of articles on this topic, but here's one from a professor of public health specific to Typhoon Haiyan relief:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2...

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