Typhoon Haiyan Relief: Give the Gift of Support

With the holiday season in full swing, there is no better time to be giving the gift of support. Now more than ever, the staff at GoAbroad.com are continuing to advocate for relief support in the Philippines following the devastating effects of Typhoon Haiyan on both the people and the country. From the ongoing Causes campaign to local efforts in Colorado we’re calling “Tips for Tacloban,” there are a variety of ways to get involved and be part of making a difference.

Interested in doing the same? Here are some of the ways that you can support the GoAbroad Foundation’s Typhoon Relief efforts in Tacloban, Philippines right now.

1. Donate directly to the Causes Campaign here

Even just $10 dollars will go a long way when added up from contributions. Please read through option two before doing this right away**

2. Once you have made a small donation, Causes allows you to use the profile you developed to create your own campaign page

This individual campaign page will feed into the same funding collection as the one you initially contributed to. When you revisit the page you donated to, the donate button changes to “Get Started.”

3. Create a branded campaign on behalf of your organization

Please see the steps here to set up a profile reflecting your organization, instead of your personal details.

4. Become a Disaster Relief Volunteer in the Philippines

Our close partner, Volunteer for the Visayans, is continuing to accept volunteers to help with the relief efforts in and around Tacloban City. In the aftermath of the typhoon, there is much to be done in order to help survivors and rebuild the areas that were devastated. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, or know someone who is, please click here.

Please note that this will not be the traditional volunteer program, and that conditions in Tacloban are rough, which is all the more reason our friends in the Philippines need our help!

Why Giving Back Matters

As noted above, there are numerous ways to get involved with relief efforts. It’s going to take a long time to get the Philippines back to where it was after a natural disaster like this, and every contribution makes a difference.

To give you an idea of what it means to be involved in a project like this, we sat down with Bruce Jones, President and Founder of International TEFL Academy (ITA), who donated $2000 to the GoAbroad Foundation as a part of a unique fundraising promotion.

How does ITA decide which charitable contributions they will make?

All of our staff have lived and traveled the world so providing charitable help to international relief and education is part of our mission. We give part of our profits to certain charities every year that we feel have the largest impact on their community with the funds we provide. Whenever we see a tragic event we feel fortunate to be able to make a contribution and it is an opportunity for us to part of the solution and influence other to get involved.

What is ITA’s personal connection to this cause and the Philippines?

My stepmother is from the Philippines and my brother lives there with his relatives. He taught English in South Korea for three years and then has been in the Philippines for the past five years. He happened to have been in the states visiting when the typhoon hit. So the first thing is having a family connection.
The second thing is I’ve worked with GoAbroad for nearly eight years and have my account managers from there and have personally met them; I feel I should help them in any way I can.

How did you decide upon the GoAbroad Foundation as the recipient of these funds?

We thought about some general funds like the Red Cross, but knowing this money was going directly to the area GoAbroad is located and would help their friends and family seemed like a more tangible tracking of the money as it was going to a very specific place.
I have personally met Troy, the founder of GoAbroad, and work with Kayla [GoMedia Coordinator] in social media so I fully trust and support the Foundation. I also believe that the GoAbroad Foundation would use the money in the best and most effective way possible.
We feel as a company with thousands of annual students, and a reach over hundreds of thousands of people that we can offer direction and influence people to make a difference around the world.