TYPHOON YOLANDA RELIEF: Doing Something to be of Help

My favorite blogger, the Bull Runner,  puts it succinctly – "We’ve all seen the devastation brought about by Typhoon Yolanda. It is horrifying, saddening, and painful to watch. So, instead of just watching, let’s use running to help out. One run can help thousands of lives."

While I cannot be sure I will be able to join the One Run  (http://thebullrunner.com/2013/11/one-run-run-for-yolanda-victims-full-details/) or  Rescue Run (http://siguecorrer.com/2013/11/13/rescue-run-2013-for-typhoon-yolanda-victims/), both scheduled for November 16,  this morning, I participated in the blood donation drive organized by our company First Balfour together with the Philippine National Red Cross. We have a week-long donation drive for canned goods, bottled water and toiletries. Many of our employees are participating.

Early bird in donating

Nearing the finish

Two at a time with the other two resting

More employees lining up to donate

With the company nurse who liaised with the Red Cross

The magnitude of the calamity is so great that is numbing. But we cannot afford to do nothing. We must do something. I am reminded of the words of the great Robert Kennedy and I quote:

"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance".

Or in the case of the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, these walls of despair and anarchy.