Book and Food Drive for Jose Fabella Center

Numbers of families were driven out of their hometowns by Typhoon Yolanda. Some survivors  chose to be relocated in Metro Manila to find refuge.  Jose Fabella Center (JFC) in Mandaluyong is among the many centers that adopted the grief-stricken families. 

I've been living in Mandaluyong for 20 years now but I haven't been in JFC. I'm actually clueless what JFC is. I'm familiar with Jose Fabella Hospital but not JFC. I always thought that these two are one and the same.  To know more of JFC, I hired a tricycle to bring me to the place. It was just a 10 minute ride from my place (well, that's without a traffic). 

Upon entrance to the gate, I felt a sense of serenity...

I was greeted by Jess, a young and bubbly social worker. She toured me around JFC and gave me background of their residents.  To date, they have around 500 individuals (including families from Tacloban, homeless adults and street children) who have been staying for temporary shelter.

Happy to serve Social Workers, namely, Jess and Eric

At one of the quarters, I met the Colanta family from Tacloban. They told me how they survived Yolanda's wrath. Their story of faith, of survival, of leaning on, on second chances, on life as a whole was very touching and inspiring. 

Colanta Family: Nanay Anita, Tatay Benedicto and Ava

Trigueros Family from Leyte

On February 20, 2014,  we will be visiting Jose Fabella Center for Book and Food Drive.  For those interested to be a part of this endeavor, feel free to email me at joydamendiola@yahoo.com.

Help fill this classroom with children's books.
Donate pre-love story books, better yet,
send a new book for the kids to read over and over and over.

Help us bring joy, fun and laughter to our brothers and sisters in JFC on February 20.

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” 

― Ralph Waldo Emerson