Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda)

My heart is really aching. As I was celebrating my bridal shower over the weekend, the Philippines was experiencing the worst-ever recorded typhoon. It barreled through central Philippines and people are saying thousands of people have died. So far, I'm hearing news that my family is safe and the towns that were badly damages are just several towns over where our family is from - I'm very thankful to hear that they are ok.

After my whirlwind weekend, I was able to catch-up with the rest of the world and then more news started pouring out of the Philippines as they are now working on recovery. The country is fairly Westernized, but most of the fishing villages/small towns live primitive to our standards, so the structure of houses and the way things are built were not exactly the strongest it could be. Also, the storm surge was just so intense that people couldn't hold on.

I'm not going to include any pictures of the destruction and devastation here because, frankly, it's way too much - and graphic for me to even handle. This natural disaster is hitting me closer than others because of my tie to the Philippines. My mother was born and raised there - and I actually lived there for five years too. I'm half Filipino and very proud of the culture I share with my mom.

I quickly began to look for ways to help. Money is really what the Philippines need. Money for supplies, food, water, manpower to help search for survivors and recover bodies, etc. A Facebook friend shared this link from CNN: How to help Typhoon Haiyan survivors. It lists out lots of ways we can help contribute.

I'm going to donate to the American Red Cross, which also serves the Philippine Red Cross. Contributions add up, so $10 or $15 dollars can go a long way! If you go to the homepage, they have it front and center to help the people affected by the typhoon. Or you can go directly to this link: https://www.redcross.org/donate/index.jsp?donateStep=2&itemId=prod4650031&campname=donatetyphoon&campmedium=aspot_unassigned