Disaster relief organizations based in Connecticut are mobilizing to help the people of the Philippines following the devastating typhoon that tore through the region late last week. Gary Shay is the senior director for humanitarian operations at Westport, Connecticut-based Save the Children. He says more than 400 staff members were already working in the Philippines before the storm.
“The needs are going to be for safe water, healthcare, shelter and protection," says Shay. "They’re the immediate things. And we are beginning our response. And as you can image, the logistics are challenging, but we’ve faced this in other situations around the world.”
Leslie Gianelli is the director of communications for Stamford-based Americares. She says they’ve deployed three staff people to the Philippines and are preparing to ship medicines and medical supplies to Manila later this week.
“So that is medical modules that are designed to help up to 20,000 patients for up to 3 months," says Gianelli. " So we’re putting in things like hygiene kits, antibiotics, and various medicines that are needed by people in the immediate aftermath of storms such as the typhoon.”
Up to 10,000 people are feared dead in the Philippines.
Information on the Save the Children effort in the Philippines is here.
Information on the Americares effort in the Philippines is here.
