By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
EVER since Typhoon Haiyan tore apart the Philippines in early November, aid has been coming from all over the globe to lend support to the devastated republic – even from Narre Warren.
On Saturday members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Narre Warren North came together to collect goods donated by the local community and send them to families in Tacloban in the Phillippines which was left in ruins following the storm.
Clothing, bedding and food were among the items packaged up at the collection centre at the church and sent to the Philippines as part of the LDS Church’s Mormon Helping Hands program.
Lehi Cerna, Helping Hands co-ordinator for 2013 and church member, said the Philippines was selected as the beneficiary of the program following discussion with a former member of the LDS Church in Narre Warren who now lives in the storm-ravaged community.
“We have a member who moved to the Philippines and now lives there.
“He came up with the idea for us to send things over,” Lehi said.
“In the middle of collecting everything we realised that lots of people wanted to help.
“Our friend in the Philippines said there was a desperate need for supplies.
“The less you have, the more you appreciate it.”
Saturday’s project began with members collecting goods from local wards in Casey where they had been stored throughout the week.
And then from 8am more than 100 volunteers attended to the collection point in different shifts to organise and pack the donations into boxes, which were delivered this week by international shipping company LBC to the Red Cross in the Philippines.
Among the volunteers were members of the Muslim community, friends of the LDS Church through the Casey Multi-faith network.
The final donations saw almost 700 kilograms of non-perishable food items donated, along with nearly 500 cubic feet of donations ranging from women, men and children’s clothing, toys, cooking and kitchen utensils, hygiene kits, bedding and linen, personal hygiene items, books and hospital blankets.
“We’re aware we didn’t help the whole nation but if we can put one blanket on a child’s back for one month, it’s worth it,” Lehi said.
