Dig deep for the Philippines

Those wanting to give to support people in the Philippines, but wanting to avoid CAFOD and other DEC organisations, due to their various problems (from a Catholic perspective),  do have some other options.  

One is to give directly to Caritas Manila, which you can do via their www site here. 

Another way is via Aid to the Church in Need.  

Sometimes people think that ACN is not an appropriate recipient in these instances, so I encourage you to read what they have to say:

Aid to the Church in Need is giving emergency help for those affected by the typhoon in the Philippines.

We are committed to providing €100,000 which is being channelled through the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. But we desperately need your help as requests for support come in.

Typhoon Haiyan has left more than 673,000 people displaced. The bishops tell us that your help will assist people affected in the areas of greatest need, providing food, clean water, shelter and basic medicine.

Fr. Edwin Gariguez who is coordinating the Bishops’ aid programme told us about people’s pressing needs following the disaster.  

Fr. Edwin said: “Of course the most important needs by the affected communities are food and water. There were reports of looting in the province of Leyte because people are so desperate. There were also reports that the number of dead is increasing.  We are trying to reach areas, which are not mentioned in the media, but we are receiving information from the ground, particularly from parishes from the affected dioceses.

“So many people are crying for help but the magnitude of the calamity is so huge that even the government finds it difficult to reach out all those who are affected by this strong Super-Typhoon.” 

You can donate to ACN here.