HelpPH global donation campaign launched

IN response to the needs of communities devastated by supertyphoon Yolanda, the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (PDRF) has launched HelpPH (help.ph), a global campaign for donations via mobile load to help fund programs for relief and reconstruction.

Mobile phone users all over the world can donate to HelpPh (www.helpphilippines.ph) by sending airtime load to PDRF through BayadLoad, a mobile money service of Smart Communications Inc. Mobile phone subscribers overseas must key-in +63-999-7-000-000 (12-digits) as the beneficiary mobile number and then send their donation using the airtime top-up procedure of their specific mobile network operator.

The maximum amount per day is US$10. This fund-raising program will continue until Dec. 31.

“The unprecedented scale of the devastation inflicted by typhoon Yolanda requires a global response. Through HelpPh, we are providing people all over the world the means to send help to those in greatest need through a few clicks on their mobile phones,” said PDRF chairman Manuel Pangilinan.

Through Philippine and international partners, funds gathered will be directly channeled to immediate relief efforts and later, to long-term recovery programs in areas of the greatest need.

For this purpose, PDRF is firming up cooperative arrangements with organizations like the Philippine Red Cross, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Caritas Manila, Philippine Business for Social Progress, Gawad Kalinga, the United States Agency for International Development and the GSMA, the global association of the mobile phone industry.

Immediate relief operations will be prioritized for remote areas not reached by relief distribution. Corporate members will be tapped to provide transport, logistics and communications support to enable timely coordination of relief efforts by government and relief agencies. To learn more about this, please visit help.ph.