TO MY FELLOW LA SALLIANS LET'S BE ONE FOR ILIGAN

Typhoon Sendong, which hit the Visayas and Mindanao regions REAL HARD. I was reading my Twitter timeline and read heartbreaking tweets from ABS-CBN and other people. They say it's Ondoy-like, some say it was far worse than Ondoy. But Ondoy-like or not, when Sendong left, the end result was a catastrophe! And what's worse it hit the region like 10 days before Christmas.

And since my family's also in the giving mood for the Holidays with our annual Christmas Drive, I think we should give back and help these families. Guys, it's almost Christmas, and a lot of these families will be spending the supposedly happiest day of the year in resettlement areas (school gyms or the town center).

I just re-tweeted Gang Badoy and it said that: "My cousin just texted me: The La Salle Iligan gym is being prepared now for the mass wake of the victims in their community. :(" Seriously, this isn't how Christmas is supposed to be.

And since we have a brother school in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte (which was also badly hit by Sendong) the Brothers have posted on their Facebook accounts ways on how we can help these families. So to my fellow La Sallians, it's time to pay it forward. These people are in dire need of help. Here's how you can help send your donations:


Development Bank of the Philippines
Account Name: La Salle Academy
Account Number: 0820-016221-030.

Notes:
1. Please make cheques payable to La Salle Academy.
2. Kindly make a digital copy (or digital photo) of the deposit slip and email this digital file to Br. Raffy Reyes FSC (President of LSA) raffyreyes1018@gmail.com AND Br Dennis Magbanua FSC (President of DLSZ) brodennis@gmail.com for proper documentation and accounting.

De La Salle Zobel: Please leave donations at GATE 7, starting December 19. They also have relief goods drop off centers at Alabang Town Center. You may contact the following people in-charge:

The following members of the DLSZ community are in charge of the Relief Goods Drop Off Center:

Miss Evangeline "Vangie" de Peralta (Lasallian Formation and Mission Department Director)
0917 563 8870 (office cellular number)

Mr Jayjay Jacinto (Social Action Office Head)
0917 859 7602 (office cellular number)

Mr Dennis Patiño (Administrative Services Department Director
0917 556 4155 (office cellular number)

Mr Ton Francisco (Parent Volunteer for Logistics and Transportation)
tonfrancisco2000@yahoo.com

De La Salle-College of St. Benilde: Fill-out pledge form and give/send donations through the accounting office. You may get pledge form at COSCA Office 3rd/F of Br. Cordero Building.

La Salle Greenhills: You may leave donations at GATE 2 also starting December 19.

For more information on how to help visit the De La Salle Philippines Facebook page by clicking here.

Thank you guys! Please spread the word. Our La Sallian brothers and sisters need us, and so does the people of Iligan City whose lives will be changed forever by this catastrophic event. Let's help them rebuild their lives in the littlest way we could. We had Ondoy 2 years ago, so we know exactly how they feel.

P.S. Here's a clear example of how devastating the situation is over at Iligan City.
NEWS UPDATE:
Several LSA faculty members, support staff and students lost their homes. One teacher lost her brother, another lost her parents and a sister. Another teacher lost her mother and two brothers. One night high school student reportedly died too.

The school was also flooded (about one to two feet high). Clearing of the mud in the classrooms and offices has commenced. Wakes for the members of the Lasallian Family will also be held on campus because the funeral parlors are full.

Appeal to Kind Hearts: Fund our Annual Christmas Drive

Hi guys! I have been an absentee blogger due to the fact that I had 3 subjects this term and the months leading to the Holidays is the busiest here at work. But anyway, this blog entry is not a blog on a recent food trip or travel, but a sincere appeal to kind and generous hearts this Christmas.

It's been a dream of my Mother to give "gifts" to unfortunate families during Christmas. And last year, this dream saw realization when we got to do our first ever Christmas drive my Mom wittily called PANSSTTT! She called it that because we gave pancit canton (and all ingredients involved in the cooking plus some fruits and powdered iced tea) to unfortunate families near our subdivision in Cainta, Rizal. You can read about my entry last year here (120 Families Served on Christmas Eve)

Through the help of our Parish (San Antonio de Padua Parish) and Dess (the lovely lady from our subdivision who coordinated it all) we were able to distribute these Noche Buena goods to about 120 families. Here are some of the pictures from last year's Christmas Drive. Seeing the smiles on their faces that Christmas Eve was the best! Ang saya na makita sila na masaya to get the goodie bags! :)





By the way, Dess made sure that families we were giving these goodie bags to HAVE ABSOLUTELY ZERO MEANS FOR A NOCHE BUENA! Dess knows the place well since she volunteers for the Church, and knows the people by name. :)

Through the help of our kind donors, we were able to put up enough money to buy all those things for the pancit canton, and we got a little more than we expected so we got buy them fruits and iced tea. Our donors ranged from our relatives (here and abroad), my friends (barkada and work), and other kind-hearted people. We made sure that they SAW where their money went, hence the proper documentation (with accounting pa yan ha!).

So now let me appeal to all of you guys reading this blog entry. It doesn't have to be a huge sum. As of this writing, my Mom has been able to collect funds from our relatives from the States and a friend of hers from work donated juice packs.

For those who want to donate, please leave your name and e-mail address so I could send you details on how you can extend your help.

Thank you very much guys! Let us help those people who will, in no way, have a decent Christmas dinner with their families. Let us be reminded that this is THE TIME of the year to show how blessed we are that we have so much, and it is time to give back.

Please help us spread the word! To my fellow bloggers, I hope you can help me get through some more people. I'm not as big time a blogger as you guys, you guys have a wider reach, so sana you can help me with our Christmas Drive.

THANK YOU SO MUCH! The red poster above, you can use to help promote! :)

For queries on how to donate please e-mail me at: mtc(dot)dumana(at)yahoo(dot)com.