Typhoon Haiyan has affected the lives of more than 10 million in the Philippines, displacing at least 600,000 and killing upwards of 10,000. Haiyan, meanwhile, is estimated to have destroyed about 70 to 80 percent of structures in its path as it tore into the coastal provinces of Leyte and Samar.
Organizations listed below are reliable and are deploying urgent relief efforts on the islands.
- The American Red Cross
- UNICEF
- The International Rescue Committee
- Catholic Relief Services
- World Vision
At a conference of women religious from throughout Asia, meeting south of Manila, the leadership of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP) issued its own urgent call for donations as well.
Their appeal letter reads in part:
In the past days thousands of our brothers and sisters in Samar, Leyte, Cebu and some other provinces were hit by a very devastating typhoon Yolanda. Thousands were feared dead and another thousand were still reported missing and unaccounted for. The suffering of our people seemed too much to carry and imagine. We have not yet recovered from the impact of the earthquake in Bohol, and here we are again, down and out once more.
We already started sending relief goods to Samar and Leyte area in coordination with Sagip Kapamilya Foundation. We also send out the money that we initially collected to the religious communities based in Cebu and Ormoc whom we requested to organize and buy food provisions for the victims. Thousands of families are now hungry, angry, devastated, homeless and aimless in the evacuation centers and are in need of our help and support.
The AMRSP is again knocking at your generous heart for support and help for our brothers and sisters in need not only this time but also for us to prepare provisions for the future rehabilitation effort for the affected communities. We appeal to your kind heart to extend donations preferably in cash so that we can buy food provisions in the nearby area, or food provisions such as rice, canned goods and noodles.
For cash donations please deposit to the following:
Account Name: AMRSP Special Funds Account Number: 259-3-25907445-3
Bank Name: METROBANK-Capital Towers branch
222 E. Rodriguez Senior Blvd.
Barangay Kalusugan, Quezon City
The Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP), formed in 1972, is the joint forum of Association of Major Religious Superiors of Men in the Philippines (AMRSMP) and Association of Major Religious Superiors of Women in the Philippines (AMRSWP) founded in 1955 and 1957 respectively. It is a forum to share common interests, an avenue for collaboration and a means to actively pursue the role of being prophetic witness in the Philippine Church and society. To date, the AMRSP membership counts 281 Women Congregations and 98 Men Congregations.
