Dear Balikatan members and fellow IVCF-Philippines Alumni,

You have read it on the papers and seen and heard it on TV and the internet: typhoon Ondoy left hundreds of Filipinos dead and tens of thousands homeless. Some of you may have relatives or friends who were directly impacted by the typhoon, and we empathize with you with what you’re going through right now.

The road to recovery for most of the victims of the typhoon would be a long one. But I hope and pray that, with the assistance coming from every nation and with the Philippine government doing everything within its powers, most of our kababayans will find relief sooner.

Some of you may have already sent your gifts and donations directly to relatives, friends, and, in general, to the Filipino people. For those of you who are willing to help but don’t know how your financial help would reach those who need it the most, you may send your donations to IVCF-Phil through Balikatan.

The IVCF-Phil National Director reported recently that IVCF-Phil is directly helping typhoon victims with its own and donated funds and serving as a channel for donors who want their funds directed to other Christian organizations. For more information on IVCF-Phil’s relief efforts, please visit http://ivcfphil.org/ondoy-relief-program/. Through Balikatan, you have the option of sending your typhoon donations to IVCF-Phil, and specifying if your donations are for the IVCF-Phil typhoon fund or for a specific Christian organization’s typhoon fund.

Please write your checks payable to BALIKATAN, and send them to Edna Eleanor Bargan, 31 Chapel Street, Norwood, MA 02062. Edna’s phone number is 617-331-4551.

All donations are tax-deductible and 100% remitted to IVCF-Phil (i.e., Balikatan will pay for the remittance cost).

Please give generously, and may God bless you and your family abundantly.

Landy Ancheta

On behalf of the Balikatan Board