Araw's Yolanda Kids Back-to-School Project a Success!

My daughter's nanny, Ms. J, just got back from Leyte with the good news that Araw's back to school project for the children of Carigara, Leyte has been a big success. 

The project started after Araw won the grand prize of P20,000 in a fund-raising Bingo game in her school. 

When I asked her what she wanted to do with the money, she said without hesitation that she wanted to donate it to the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan. 

And so we did. We bought school kits for 100 children. The kits included a plastic envelope, a notebook, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, crayons, pad paper and pens. We also bought water bottles and some vitamins. 

To supplement the school kits, I also sought the help of some companies for "whatever corporate give-aways they can include." They all gave their overwhelming support. Rest assured your help has gone a long way. Thank you to the MVP Group's PLDT and Maynilad, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, Manila Water and Full Circle.  Thank you to Jes Aznar for this bright idea.

Again, on behalf of the children of Carigara, Leyte, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to Jay-Anne Encarnado of PLDT for the support that went to logistics and other additional expenses, Cherubim Ocampo of Maynilad for 50 school kits with notebooks, sanitizer and water bottles, Ron Jabal of Shell for the towels and the additional notebooks, Atty. Cynthia Perez-Alabanza of NGCP for 100 notebooks, 100 ballpens and 100 pencils and Milen de Quiros for the pencils and ballpens from Full Circle and Manila Water.  Ms. J and her siblings brought the stuff -- in six big boxes -- to Carigara, Leyte. Thank you Ms. J. and thanks, too, to Dennis Longid for lending his vehicle which brought the boxes to the bus station.

A great big thank you to each and everyone of you for responding to our call. Without your help, this project would not have been as successful. 

But this story is not about us nor is it about Araw. This is the story of the children of Carigara, Leyte.  May we never forget what happened to them on November 8, 2013 when a monster of a typhoon came in the dead of night. 

(Photos by me; Photo of photos by Jes Aznar)