Rain Love Drop-Off Venues

New York, New York. Rain Love on Manila is currently gathering care packages in the residences of their volunteers. If you would like to consolidate your donations to theirs, for shipping back to Manila for the receipt of the Philippine National Red Cross, please email rainloveonmanila@yahoo.com. Indicate your name, where you are from (city, country), when you intend to do the drop-off, and we will be in touch with you. These are the cities that are currently active:

Central London, UK
Queens, NY, USA
West Hills, CA, USA

Thank you and let's keep working to send more love back home.

Statistics: Accumulated Rainfall, Day 1

Rainfall Count for 24 hours

No Land in Sight: Metro Manila Today

Bridge in Tarlac City going to Camiling town

The level of water reaching the tops of the street lamps in Marikina City

UST university campus field

World Vision tells Rain Love on Manila:

"You may be interested to know that World Vision is readying relief efforts in response to the flooding in the Philippines. As soon as the flood significantly recedes, our response teams will visit the affected areas of Malabon, Manila, Cavite and Zambales."

Thank you World Vision!

Rain Love Again

While the eyes of the world remain on London for the Olympic games in its gob-smacking spectacle, my country, the Philippines sinks under a national disaster of apocalyptic rains that continue to drown it.

I hear from the news that capital city of Manila has had 504 millimeters or 20 inches of rain – and that apparently it’s not yet over. To put this into perspective, Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest and most destructive calamities of the United States felt rainfall of 14 inches.

140,000 people have been forced out of their homes. There are deep waters, waist deep and even higher floods, overflowing rivers and dams, ferocious landslides, which have buried communities, stranded cars, blocked roads, trapped families on roofs, and killed people. The death toll of the country is up to 53 today, August 7.

My country is under complete red alert. Where will the 7,107 islands of the country find itself after a storm bigger than its landmass leaves it? How will the 92 million Filipinos survive? Being a Filipino away from the Philippines, seeing the deadly disaster that’s happened only through a laptop screen, I immediately try to reach my parents back home, feel relief to find out only an inch of water has seeped through our home, but at the same time I feel the pang of anxiety for the rest of my country who might not be as lucky with unimaginable water levels. This misfortune that has struck, I am filled with hope that there can only be light at the end.

Because the country has seen a disaster just as deadly before, not even 3 years ago, called Ondoy, we already know that the effects of this storm are far-reaching and profound. And because we have seen this before, then we’ve already seen how much people can do, what people can give, what people can be to turn our country from what it looks like now, to what it can become.

With the recent debate of the RH bill that has divided the country, and now with another great storm, I know this flood, might its waters linger for weeks, will float something else – something good to the country, as people rise up with nationalism, pick up a brother, and take control to turn the tide themselves.

Here in London, while the Games have united people under the banner of ambition, hard work and competition, in Manila – I know that we have just as dramatic a lesson from the storm, which is that when we are united with a purpose, it can bring out the best.

During times like these, there is no more government, there are no rich or poor, there are no drenched or dry - there are only people - people who are cold, people who are hungry, and people who need help but cannot call for help. I'm writing on behalf of my people, to you, friends, if you can spare some time to gather things that can provide relief to Filipinos at this time of "endless dusk" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19159509).

My sister has started a disaster relief campaign called Rain Love on Manila (rainloveonmanila.blogspot.com) in 2009, which helped create care packages to send back to our country for the victims, in cooperation with the Philippine National Red Cross. Today, we begin the Rain Love on Manila 2012 relief campaign for last night’s victims by collecting anything you feel like donating.

Today, any of these things will be most helpful:

1) basic clothes - tops, bottoms, underwear

2) rain gear and cold weather clothes

3) flotation devices - old air beds, life vests, flotation sleeves

4) basic food - rice, powdered milk for infants, cup noodles, canned goods

5) blankets, pillows - some people are living in makeshift evacuation centers like schools, gyms, parking garages, without facilities

6) funds to cover the shipping of these boxes via LBC

personal email: flores.patriciaanne@gmail.com
personal email of my sister: debflo@gmail.com
campaign email: rainloveonmanila@yahoo.com
SMS (UK based): +44776821964
SMS (NY based): 646-820-3327

As of today, there are Rain Love on Manila volunteer teams assembling in Manila, UK, California and NY, to better facilitate the collection of care.

Thank you for the Year-long Support

New York City, New York. It has been more than a year since the calamity that struck the Philippines, and I have visited Manila myself several times since to see how life has been since. And I've found myself to be truly in awe of the resilience of the Filipino. For after the disaster, and several other types of disasters pummeling the country both natural and man-made, the Philippines is on its feet, commuting away and back to their homes, and continuing to build a life and future for their families.

The major relief effort has concluded. The Rain Love on Manila teams in New York and Manila have gathered and distributed the clothing, food, and monetary assistance that we have collected since the campaign began. I personally thank everyone who became a part of this mission and turned it into a success - volunteers in Manila, New York, Canada, people who love the shirt and love the message and want to help from Africa to London to California, friends from Pratt, Sharp, JWT, family, Dairy Zest Corp, the Philippine National Red Cross, Adobo Magazine, Smart Parenting, Nylon Magazine. Classmates, schoolmates, faculty, administration, student affairs team, advertising people, the creatives, the accounts, the production people, models, photographers, publicists, writers and friends, creative directors, VPs, CEOs. Rain Love on Manila showered blessings the way it did because of all of you.

Yet ever so quietly, I still continue to sell the few shirts left with me of the Rain Love on Manila limited first edition shirts. Because the mission has only begun. So thank you also to those individuals who have reached out to me showing continued interest in the shirt as well as the cause behind the shirt. I am happy to deliver these items to you, as I hope you're happy to flaunt them around and show what helping means to you.

I have plans of sustaining this campaign over a longer period, but as I am back to doing this by myself, I apologize in advance for the slower rate with which I unfold these plans. To everyone who would still like to be a part of Rain Love on Manila, when you do find time, write me about your suggestions at rainloveonmanila@yahoo.com. For anyone who would like to own the last few pieces of the limited edition shirt, drop me an order as well through this blog. And for those who have other ideas how to help the Philippines through design, let's huddle up and do something brilliant and worthwhile.

In the meantime, this is Deb Flores, from New York City, a designer, a grad student, and a hopeful design missionary, signing off for now, but waiting patiently for the next surge of hope.

Rain Love on Manila distribution phase II

JWT volunteers Cez and Dovie prepare the care packages for the distribution day.

DZC beneficiaries of the Rain Love on Manila effort.

People look on as they get called to the distribution
station to collect their care package and financial support.

Dairy Zest Corp Managing Director and Rain Love on Manila
volunteer Nellie Flores ends the event with an inspiring message
of hope in spite of disaster.

Manila, Philippines. Slowly and steadily, the efforts of the Rain Love on Manila cause has finally reached its goals of helping put the smile back into the faces of those affected by the typhoon disasters of 2009. Last July 2010, volunteers of Rain Love on Manila distributed the money collected from the sales of the shirts, and treated Dairy Zest Corp victims to an afternoon of food and more care packages shipped from New York City. The two shirts pledged by some New York based sponsors were also given out in a raffle to the crowd.

Above are some photos of the event, participated actively by Dairy Zest Corp management, and their corresponding staff. Thank you to JWT volunteer Cez de Guzman and Dovie Mar Racquel for helping out.