Our thoughts are with our community members from the Philippines
A military C-130 plane arrives in typhoon-ravaged Tacloban, a city in Leyte province in central Philippines. | Photograph by Aaron Favila/AP, courtesy of the New Yorker
Concordia President Alan Shepard is offering condolences to members of the Concordia community form the Philippines as the global recovery and relief effort for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan gains momentum.
“We are thinking of our students and colleagues from the Philippines, their loved ones and all those affected by this terrible natural disaster,” says President Shepard. “We will help our students in whatever way we can, and I encourage the members of our university community to donate to the aid effort.”
Counselling services are offered to Concordians. Counselling and Development offers counselling services to students, and employees can contact the Employee Assistance Program.
The scale of this disaster is staggering. Estimates are that the death toll, officially at almost 1,800, could reach 10,000, and some 10 million people have been affected since the powerful typhoon struck the Philippines on November 8.
International aid is arriving in the Philippines. The Government of Canada has deployed its Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to the region, and is providing $5 million to humanitarian organizations for the relief effort.
Canada has also established the Typhoon Haiyan Relief Fund to match dollar for dollar the aid contributions made by December 9, by individual Canadians to registered charities, in response to the crisis in the Philippines. Find out more about the fund.
Concordians can contribute to Typhoon Haiyan Relief Fund through several Canadian-based humanitarian organizations that are active in the affected region.
These include: