Wedding gift donated for Yolanda victims

CEBU, Philippines - Having just married, Grace should have been going over her wedding gifts and sending out thank you letters.  She is, however, busy contacting friends and encouraging them to donate to Super Typhoon Yolanda victims, like what she did to a cash gift from her cousin in Sweden.

She would also be giving free dinner Wednesday night to refugees from Tacloban City currently taking shelter at the Tinago Sports Complex in Cebu City.

Instead of keeping her cousin's wedding gift, which she had originally intended to save to build her future home, she would be donating it to the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) to help typhoon victims.

Her cousin, a half-Canadian, half-Filipino working in Sweden, readily agreed to her proposal and is now even conducting a fund-raising campaign among her Swedish co-workers for donation to RAFI.

“I asked her permission and she asked unsay gusto nako (what do I like). I said I want to donate to the victims of the typhoon.  She asked unsaon sab niya pagtabang (how can she help); I said you can donate, and she is now asking her colleagues to also donate, either direct to RAFI's account or through me,” Grace, 33, said.

She said she had originally wanted to donate to Tacloban, having fallen in love with the city when she went there last month.

“First day pa lang nako didto ganahan na ko kaayo didto.  The city has already become close to my heart,” Grace said.

She said she wanted to go to Tacloban and send aid herself shortly after the typhoon. But her husband dissuaded her from going, concerned over reports that the city was descending into anarchy due to the devastation and the lack of food.

She turned her attention to equally-ravaged northern Cebu, particularly Daanbantayan, and was preparing when she learned from the media that refugees from Tacloban were coming to Cebu.

“Padung kuno sila diri. Nakaingon ko nga this is the will of God. Maong nangita ko og paagi nga makatabang,” she said, adding that she is very thankful for her friends who enthusiastically responded to her request that they help also.

She immediately coordinated with the Cebu City Government, which is encouraging well-meaning people to help feed the refugees, and was given the schedule to do so for the Tinago Sports Complex refugees' supper tomorrow.

She also volunteered during her free time at the Department of Social Welfare and Development 7 packing area, all because she want to help lift the victims up and share to them her own hope for the future.

“Sa tanang nahitabo (Despite all these), I'm sure everything will be fine.  I have hope that soonest, this too would come to pass,” Grace said. (FREEMAN)