Buy Christmas cards, help ‘Lawin’ victims in Cagayan

Christmas card for a cause —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

TUGUEGARAO CITY—Handmade Christmas cards produced by painter and sculptor Frederick Epistola are being sold for P250 to raise money for victims of Supertyphoon “Lawin” (international name: Haima) in Cagayan province.

Earnings from the sale of Christmas cards would be used to rebuild houses, under the “Give A Roof This Christmas” project organized by friends and relatives of lawyer Mabel Villarica-Mamba, wife of Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba.

Lawin destroyed 25,000 houses and damaged 93,834 others in the province in October.

“When you buy a Christmas card for your family and friends … you will be asked to submit to us the name of an intended recipient. The recipient is then included on the list of donors,” said Ina Villarica, one of the project’s proponents.

“They can buy as many cards as they want … You are giving your family and friends the gift of helping those affected by Lawin in Cagayan,” she said.

Cagayan residents have also launched a celebrity signature campaign. Movie stars and other celebrities posed for photographs, which are sold to raise money to repair houses.

The projects have been marketed through social media, as well as through Oplan Tulong Cagayan. —VILLAMOR VISAYA JR.