Bangon, Pinoy! Rise above the storm: Celebrating the unsinkable Filipino spirit

Warm greetings in this season of storms!

We call on the Filipino-Dutch community and other sectors in the Netherlands to support our fund raising campaign for the relief and rehabilitation for storm victims in the Philippines. ‘Bangon, Pinoy! Rise above the storm’ is a campaign that aims to leverage online social networks to gather donations, and will culminate in a benefit concert featuring some of our world-class Filipino artists and performers residing in the Netherlands. It will be a highly charged entertainment showcase of the Pinoy’s phenomenal singing prowess; a night filled with songs and stories. It will be a celebration of the unsinkable Filipino spirit that birthed the ‘bayanihan’, which has prevailed amidst the fury and havoc of storms that recently passed the country. (Please see related post for more details on the concert.)

What do we want to achieve?
Our goal is to raise funds for the massive relief and rehabilitation efforts for the poorest and most vulnerable victims of flooding and landslides in the Philippines caused by tropical storm Ondoy (Ketsana) and super-typhoon Pepeng (Parma). We want to focus on direct support for children, women, elderly and the differently-abled.

Who are the beneficiaries?
We want to help in two ways. We want to aid in immediate national relief operations provided by the Philippine National Red Cross, and concurrently support community-based disaster management and rehabilitation initiatives provided by the Citizens’ Disaster Response Center (CDRC).

What can you do to help?
There are three ways you can help:

1. Purchase a ticket to the benefit concert. View the concert details on this separate post. You can also go directly to our concert community fundraising site where you can purchase tickets online
2. Donate online or offline. You can donate online via our website site or our community site.
3. Promote our campaign. Spread the word to your network. Read the post ‘3 ways to support our fund drive and help the storm victims’ and learn exactly how you can do this.

We will post weekly updates and an end report to make sure you’re aware of the progress of the fund raising. Our campaign runs from Oct. 26 – Nov. 29, 2009. If you have any inquiries, please email us at pinaysaholland@gmail.com or call +31206165288.

We appreciate any help you can give. Thank you in advance! “Maraming salamat!”

Participating organisations:
Baranggay sa Holland | Center for Philippine Concerns (CPC) | Migrante Sectoral Party – Netherlands Chapter | Migrante Netherlands | Migrante Europe | Nederlands-Filippijnse Solidariteitsbeweging (NFS) | Pinay sa Holland (Filipinas in Holland)

Special thanks to Tito Eddie and Tita Orquid of Munting Nayon for their role in promoting our campaign.

Contact persons: Maitet Ledesma maitet.ledesma@gmail.com | Timi Stoop-Alcala timistoop@gmail.com

Note: We’ll be adding the contact details of the other participating organisations.