Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) has completely destroyed parts of the Philippines. Help us to provide focused disaster relief for secluded island dwellers in the Calamian Islands of northern Palawan (Coron). Most of these communities are completely cut off from the mainland, and major disaster relief efforts are focused in other parts of the country. These island dwellers desperately need food, water, medical supplies, and shelter!!! We will be in Palawan from Dec. 4th to Dec. 20th, 2013, and will distribute donated funds (by way of purchased supplies and services) at this time.  

100% of donated funds will go directly to typhoon relief...travel costs are borne by us personally.

Please kindly donate whatever you can to help! How will we help these people? We will liase with local groups (tour operators, boat charters, and NGOs) to provide Boots-On-The-Ground assistance to secluded island dwellers. The goal will be to save lives and/or help families to rebuild their lives.

My partner Nils and I will be heading to the Philippines in early December...we planned this vacation months ago. In light of the recent Typhoon tragedy, we have decided to provide assistance while we are there instead of vacationing as planned. 

For those who do not know us, we are a pair of working professionals from Vancouver, BC in Canada.  Nils is a firefighter and first responder, currently completing graduate work in disaster managment with extensive travel and volunteer experience.  He is also the Executive Director of the Vancouver Firefighters' Charitable Society, although this initiative is not connected to the VFCS in any way.  I am a senior financial manager with in-country connections.  Together, we know how to get things done.

We will track our giving initiatives on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/bootsonthegroundyolandareliefJennandNils. This public site will chronicle the places, dates, and people that we help, and will include photos and first-hand testimonials. Donators can rest assured their dollars will be put to good work, but please be patient, as we will have to navigate spotty internet service in order to update the Facebook Page!

Thank you in advance to all generous donors. With your help, many Filipino families will be in a better position to begin rebuilding their lives.