PBSP expresses gratitude to Donors and Partners for Post-Yolanda efforts

A more detailed update for the remaining percentage of the donations can be found below.

Relief Efforts

The amount we have raised together was initially disbursed for various relief efforts in 42 barangays in 14 municipalities in Cebu, Leyte, and Eastern Samar and Western Samar, and was leveraged for early recovery projects in the areas of Health, Education, Livelihood, and Shelter. The donations were able to provide 20,378 families with food and non-food items that followed the Sphere standard in humanitarian response. Based on this international standard, a Sphere Pack- our relief package- included the following items:

FOOD ITEMS

 

NON-FOOD ITEMS

Also, by providing a power generator to a barangay in Tacloban, Leyte, we have supplied water to benefit their community of 500 families.

Livelihood

To make the donations more sustainable and help revive the livelihood of those affected by Typhoon Yolanda, PBSP has distributed motorized boats, fishing gears, planting materials and rice seedlings for farmers, carried out cash for work strategies, and funded fishing projects in Iloilo, Biliran, and Cebu.Moreover, PhP 2 million of the funds we have collectively raised is maximized through a project entitled Project Bagong Araw, which will cater to 2,000 sari-sari or mini retail stores in the areas affected by the typhoon. Under this project, an additional PhP 5 million is allocated as loan for local livelihood.This is a partnership among PBSP, Microventures Foundation (Hapinoy), the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (PDRF), and four major micro-finance institutions in the Philippines designed to reach approximately 100,000 people and manage price inflation of basic commodities in the affected areas. Again, these will not be possible without your assistance.

Education

We have provided starter kits to 7,066 students and teachers in 10 schools in the second district of the Municipality of Daanbantayan, Cebu. We are truly proud to report that through your contribution, 42 new disaster-resilient and conventional classrooms will be built and 32 partially-damaged classrooms will be repaired that will benefit 10,140 students and 238 teachers.We assure you that once one classroom is completed, we will immediately turn over so that our Filipino students would again have a better place to learn.

Shelter

In the area of Shelter, we have initially sub-granted PhP 6,484,302.08 to Habitat for Humanity – a global non-governmental organization that has built, repaired, rehabilitated more than 500,000 homes around the world – to distribute shelter repair kits, amounting to PhP 15,000 per kit, in Madridejos and Sta. Fe in Cebu. Thanks to your help, these communities would again have a place to call home after their houses were washed away by Yolanda. The financial assistance from donations also led us to assist in distributing cash vouchers and unconditional cash grants amounting to PhP 13,000 per family in the province of Iloilo.

Thus, with our collective efforts, we have helped improve the shelter of 4,394 families in the Visayas.

Way Forward

Of the remaining funds, PBSP has put in place early recovery and rehabilitation efforts with our Post-Yolanda Rehabilitation Plan. It will be our privilege to further discuss this investment plan with you. Many thanks to you, we will reach more Filipinos needing it the most as PBSP works on proposals for mangrove rehabilitation in Bantayan Island and coconut seedlings nursery in Leyte, and encourages more donors to fund disaster-resilient classrooms. Through these, we hope that we are able to assure you that your donation is being leveraged for more sustainable development projects. However, we need to raise more to reach more – all the more reason to further urge you to invest in our other post-Yolanda rehabilitation projects.

Donors may contact our Relationship Management Department at (+63 2) 527-3742 or send an email to pbsp@pbsp.org.ph should you be interested to donate again.

Again, THANK YOU for your generosity and confidence in PBSP and for being instrumental in rebuilding lives and communities. Truly, the power of many is more strategic in achieving a sustainable and lasting impact.