Fundraising drives and events continue to pop up in Hawaii in response to Typhoon Haiyan, which rolled over the Philippines last week, causing widespread damage and loss of life.
Damien Memorial School students are hosting a "Help Damien Feed Tacloban" food drive today to aid the Leyte island city that was hit especially hard by the storm. Organizers hope participation will match that of a popular Fat Tuesday malasada pickup event held in the school’s parking lot earlier this year.
Nonperishable food can be dropped off at the school, 1401 Houghtailing St., between 8 a.m. and noon.
Assistant Dean Carlo Carrasco said his family connection to the Philippines and the fact that about 40 percent of students enrolled at the Roman Catholic school are Filipino or have ties to the Philippines prompted students to mobilize the food drive.
"The senior class felt that it will be a great thing to have a food drive because that will be more manageable for families to go ahead and donate at this time," said Carrasco, who grew up in Manila.
Carrasco said Matson Navigation Co. will help the school ship the donations to the Philippines.
FINDING LOVED ONES:
» Family-tracing services for missing people in the Philippines due to the typhoon: Call the Hawaii Red Cross hotline at 739-8115.
» For announcements by the Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu, including tracing services, go to its Facebook page or website at www.philippineshonolulu.org
» Hawaiian Telcom is providing its residential home phone customers with free direct calls to the Philippines through November. Go to hawai-iantel.com/philippines for applicable terms and restrictions for this program.
» For updates on federal response efforts and information on finding individuals, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz has created a comprehensive resource center at www.schatz.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=348037.
HOW TO HELP:
» Red Cross: Send a check payable to American Red Cross, indicating in the memo line "Philippine Typhoon" or "Pacific Typhoon" (affecting Vietnam, Philippines, etc.), to Hawaii Red Cross, 4155 Diamond Head Road, Honolulu HI 96816. Or, go to redcross.org or call 800-REDCROSS.
» Concerts: "Kokua for the Philippines," a Hawaii-based radio, television and Internet benefit concert, will be held Dec. 15 from noon to 5 p.m. Organized by Clear Channel Media, Entertainment Hawaii and Oceanic Time Warner Cable, the event will take place at the Great Lawn at Hilton Hawaiian Village and be broadcast live on local radio and television stations and via the Internet. Proceeds from a phone bank and on-site gifts will be donated to the American Red Cross for disaster relief. Gifts designated to other nonprofit organizations supporting the relief effort also can be accepted, and their contributions will be included in the overall event total. Event ticket information will be released soon. For more information and updates, visit www.kokuaforthephilippines.com.
» May Mizuno, wife of state Rep. John Mizuno, and the Congress of Visayan Organizations, in collaboration with the Filipino Community Center, Kokua Philippines and the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, will hold "Kokua for Philippines: A Night of Hope Concert" at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 1 in McKinley High School’s auditorium. Mizuno family members were among the missing Friday.
» Drop-off centers: Honolulu City Councilman Joey Manahan, St. Anthony Church in Kalihi, Kokua Kalihi Valley, Philippine Red Cross and LBC Remittance are partnering to set up drop-off centers for donations including canned goods, blankets, toiletries, towels, socks, light jackets and rice. Donations will be accepted until Nov. 30. All goods received will be shipped to relief centers in Tacloban courtesy of the LBC Remittance Foundation.
» Free calls, cable, texting: All calls placed by Oceanic Time Warner Cable home phone and business customers to land-line and mobile numbers in the Philippines are free through Nov. 30. In addition, the service is retroactive for all calls placed since Nov. 8.
Oceanic Time Warner Cable also has made The Filipino Channel available at no additional cost to digital TV subscribers through Nov. 30 on channel 688.
» Hawaiian Telcom is extending free access to The Filipino Channel (TFC Ch. 821) for its Hawaiian Telcom TV customers through Nov. 30.
» Verizon Wireless is waiving charges on long-distance calls and text/multimedia messages to the Philippines from Nov. 8 through Dec. 7 for monthly service customers. The company’s text-to-donate program allows U.S. customers to make a $10 donation to any of the following organizations by texting RELIEF to 25383 to give to Catholic Relief Services; AID to 80077 to give to HOPE Worldwide; AID to 50555 to give to Operation USA; DONATE to 20222 to give to Save the Children; RELIEF to 864233 to give to UNICEF; AID to 27722 to give to World Food Program USA; HOPE to 777444 to give to World Vision. Text-message fees will be waived, and 100 percent of each donation goes directly to the nonprofit organization.
» Restaurant fundraisers: Panda Restaurant Group Inc., parent company of Panda Express, will collect donations in each of its 1,650 Panda Express, Panda Inn and Hibachi-San locations. Panda will match 100 percent of in-store and corporate donations collected between Nov. 13 and Dec. 4.
» L&L Hawaiian Barbecue at Keeaumoku Street Walmart will donate proceeds from all sales from 10 a.m. to noon today to the Consuelo Foundation. The restaurant will match the proceeds. Checks to the Consuelo Foundation can be sent care of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, 931 University Ave. No. 202, Honolulu, HI 96826.
