Typhoon Yolanda and How to Help

It’s hard to believe I am sitting here at my desk, looking out onto a quiet Sunday afternoon.  The sun is just about to set but the sky it still light.  The trees are barely ruffled by a breeze and the city is lazily still.  My husband is in our room, whether he is outfitting himself to go biking or has fallen into the clutches of a nap, I have yet to find out.  The kids have gone to visit the neighbor’s dog.

Such normalcy.  Some days I look out the window, happy and content.  Some days, I gaze daydreaming, wishing for faraway places and faster-paced adventures.  But today I sit here, hugging this normalcy, this blessed normalcy, to my chest, so thankful that I have it.

Others haven’t been so lucky.

A vicious typhoon has swept through my country — a typhoon some are saying is one of the strongest in recorded history, in a country consisting of islands surrounded by water.  The devastation is unimaginable, and (because electricity and communications have been down) we haven’t yet fully seen that total breadth and width of the damage.  It came, relentless and without mercy, flattening everything in its path.

And now we are trying to get our heads and hands around the aftermath.  Lives and homes lost.  Towns reduced to piles of rubble and uprooted trees.  But our spirits will not be crushed.  People need our help and we will do everything we can…every little bit counts.

Instead of a recipe this week, I am posting links to where you can go to help, whether in cash or kind:

Here is a pretty comprehensive list on what and where you can help, no matter where you are:  Click HERE.

Here is another list of options care of Yahoo.

You can also donate to our Red Cross.

You can also donate to NVC Foundation — you can donate online (they accept Paypal and credit cards) or also get in touch with them about donating goods and/or time.

Typhoon Yolanda was strong.  But together we are stronger.  Together we can start rebuilding.