Senior Fatima Khan wasn’t there when Category 5 super typhoon Haiyan razed the Philippines, but it hit her just as hard.
“When I first found out about the storm, I texted my mom every single morning as it was getting out in the news,” said Khan, whose mother has family members in the Philippines. “I was asking her, ‘Have you talked to Mama. Have you talked to Papa?’”
Khan went to senior Montel Viudez, her good friend and co-president of the Filipino American Student Association, to see if she could help the efforts overseas.
“It was a bunch of worry every single day,” Khan said. “Not knowing that my own grandparents are okay made me uncomfortable sitting around and waiting for news, and that’s why I tried to be proactive about it.”
FASA members strove to be proactive, too. After attending a conference at the University of Illinois last weekend, group members thought about different ways to help. That’s when junior member Marcie Tigas approached Viudez and suggested an online fundraiser.
“From what you see, the Philippines doesn’t have as well as the aid that we have here,” Tigas said. “I felt that donating money or clothes or anything that we can give back helps them so much more than anything we can give.”
So the group members ran with the idea, holding it close to their hearts as they would to their family overseas. Viudez met with senior Danny Poon, an executive chair for the Asian American Association, and together they hosted a meeting with representatives from various on-campus organizations.
Sophomore Delan Ellington devised a name for the group: Mizzou for the Philippines.
At the meeting, the group decided to donate the money for WorldVision, a nonprofit humanitarian aid organization. WorldVision was the right option, Viudez said, because Mizzou for the Philippines knew exactly where the money was going —
$24 for a week supply of water, a blanket and a mosquito net; $35 to buy a week’s worth food for a family; $184 for an emergency shelter.
“We wanted to know where the money was going because in recent charity drives, you get all these scandals where people don’t actually send the money over,” Ellington said. “We really wanted someone who would give over 60 percent of the money, and we had the option to see where the money went.”
With specifics in place, the Mizzou for the Philippines donation page on WorldVision went live at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Although people can donate until Dec. 6, Mizzou for the Philippines has already broken its goal of $1,500. In 28 hours, $1,740 has been donated, and it won’t stop there.
“It’s important to continue donating because (workers) still haven’t gotten to all of the areas hit — not all the bridges are usable, there’s still huge amount of debris in the streets,” Ellington said. “Everything we can possibly give to them can be helpful.”
Khan, who manages the Facebook page, credits the cause’s social media presence for its rapid fundraising. Since its inception, the page has garnered 774 likes.
“If it weren’t for social media, we wouldn’t be able to spread the word on Facebook and get people to like the page,” Khan said. “It’s really gotten past Mizzou students to family members and friends of friends who go to Mizzou.”
Mizzou for the Philippines will continue its efforts to revive the island. This weekend, members will be canning on streets in Columbia. Next week, they’ll host a bake sale in the MU Student Center.
Like many others, Khan will continue helping, keeping her grandparents and family in mind.
“Just hoping that they’ll contact us is what keeps me going,” she said.