IOCC Relief in Philippines Focuses on
Continuing Needs of Typhoon Survivors
Baltimore, MD (February 21, 2014) — Recurring flooding and landslides since Typhoon Haiyan’s destructive forces swept over the Philippines last November are slowing progress for families struggling to rebuild their homes and lives. International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) and its church partners in the Philippines continue to reach families in the hardest hit areas with shelter assistance and the distribution of urgently needed relief items.
With generous support from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, IOCC is providing dozens of families in the town of Sorsogon with food and assistance to repair and reconstruct their homes. IOCC is also providing support for shelter repair to families left without a roof over their heads in hard hit Tacloban City, where thousands of homes were swept away by the 195-mile winds and torrential rain on November 8.
Typhoon Haiyan has impacted the lives of more than 13 million people across 41 provinces, destroying more than a million homes and leaving its survivors homeless and in desperate need of food, water and shelter months after the storm. IOCC, an ACT Alliance member, is responding with new distributions of urgently needed hygiene and household items to more than 500 survivors, as well as water, sanitation support and cash for work to repair homes and construct temporary shelters for homeless families.
IOCC relief efforts in the Philippines have reached nearly 9,000 Typhoon Haiyan survivors with assistance including food, medicine, emergency first aid, and water purification tablets, and shelter repair assistance. The need for emergency hygiene kits continues to grow. Instructions on organizing a kit assembly drive can be found on the IOCC website at www.iocc.org/kits.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help the victims of disasters around the world, like the natural disaster in the Philippines, by making a financial gift to the International Emergency Response Fund, which will provide immediate relief as well as long-term support through the provision of emergency aid, recovery assistance and other support to help those in need. To make a gift, please visit www.iocc.org, call toll free at 1-877-803-IOCC (4622), or mail a check or money order payable to IOCC, P.O. Box 17398, Baltimore, Md. 21297-0429.
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IOCC is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America. Since its inception in 1992, IOCC has delivered $438 million in relief and development programs to families and communities in more than 50 countries. IOCC is a member of the ACT Alliance, a global coalition of more than 140 churches and agencies engaged in development, humanitarian assistance and advocacy, and a member of InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.–based secular and faith-based organizations working to improve the lives of the world’s most poor and vulnerable populations.