News

Why Bicol Needs Us Right Now

We have barely wrapped up our partnership with Next Step Triathlon Coaching for Padyak Para sa Bicol, a pledge-based fund-raising event that raised a significant amount for Bicolano communities ravaged by Typhoon Rolly.

A few days ago, generous donors and volunteers filled up the halls of the Gota de Leche building for a sorting, repacking, and shipping initiative that would not have been possible without the support of various groups, NGOs, volunteers, anonymous donors, and countless other people.

Today, we are asking for your help once more after the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses, which recalls the severity of both Typhoons Ondoy and Milenyo with the damage and intensity they brought. We recently put out a call for clothes for both kids and adult survivors, as they barely escaped the flooding with just the clothes on their backs. We are imploring you to keep donor fatigue at bay and give a little bit more, given the recent circumstances.

Perhaps you are wondering why we are focusing in particular on our Bangon Bicol campaign lately. This Bulatlat article will hopefully shed some light on the issue. As one paragraph described the residents’ recent experience:

“Bicol residents have just begun rising above the rubble left by two typhoons that recently battered the nation but are now being struck again as Typhoon Ulysses, with international name Vamco, wreaked havoc since its landfall yesterday, Nov. 11. But for the local chapter of farmers group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas in Bicol, typhoons Quinta, Rolly, and Ulysses only exacerbated their dire living conditions amid poor government response on the dreaded pandemic and decades-old problems and injustices that continue to persist today.”

As we have described in previous projects, ours is a small but efficient group that works fast, thanks to decades of experience plus a reliable network of donors, volunteers, and other people who make sure that aid immediately goes to where it is needed. And when we work fast, our help goes farther.

Bicol in particular has been hit hard, not just by typhoons, but also by COVID-19 lockdown implementations affecting farmers and agricultural workers. The local government’s response has not been adequate, so it is up to charity groups and generous benefactors like you to fill that gap.

Once again, we implore you to give what you can, whether it’s cash or in kind, to help us help these people who need it most. Clothes, hygiene kits, bedding materials, tarpaulin, seeds, food that have a long shelf life, towels, and anything that you feel will lessen the suffering of these survivors, please find it in your hearts to donate.

Kindly send all material donations to Gota de Leche Heritage Building, 859 S.H. Loyola Street, Brgy. 395 1008 Manila, Philippines.

Cash donations will be welcome via these accounts:

PayPal: donations@gotadeleche.ph

BPI (Morayta FEU branch):

Peso checking account 1585-0011-19

US dollar acount 1584-0022-19