By Hector Pascua, ABS-CBN Europe News
VIENNA, Austria – The Filipino community in Austria wasted no time in mobilizing aid efforts to help flood victims in their home country after it was battered by 2 typhoons in less than a week in September.
Various community organizations and concerned Filipino-Austrians have joined hands in hosting the “Unity for a Cause (Part II). The event was held in Vienna on November 18, with the aim of raising funds to benefit the typhoon victims in the Philippines.
The project was organized by Lolit Vendivil Kaszuba, the president of the Association of Novo Ecijanos in Austria, who said the event raised huge amounts.
The community’s efforts to help the typhoon victims show that every euro makes a difference.
“You have a very noble aim which is primarily to harness the great compassion, desire to help and community building capacity in the urgent task of helping rebuild the lives of those hard hit by Typhoons Pedring and Quiel in the Philippines,” said Charlie Manangan, Minister and Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations in Vienna, during the event.
“The response was overwhelming. The generosity of the Filipino community in Austria really blows me away. It’s incredibly moving,” said George de Los Santos, host of the event.
The Unity for a Cause organizers have identified the Sagip Kapamilya of the ABS-CBN Foundation as its main administrator for the funds in the Philippines.
“Sagip Kapamilya is very much respected nationally and internationally for its integrity and accountability in terms of ensuring that relief goods and donated funds go directly to the most vulnerable among the disaster victims,” Kaszuba said.
Typhoons Pedring and Quiel lashed the Philippines in September causing widespread damage.
