Cebu Archbishop Abet Uy calls on everyone to extend compassion to families affected by the typhoon. From providing food and clothing to volunteering your skills or simply offering a prayer — every gesture of care helps rebuild lives and strengthen communities.
1. Adopt a Family
If you know of a family who has lost their home and belongings, kindly reach out and offer any form of help — food, clothes, financial assistance, or even emotional support. Walk with them in their journey of rebuilding.
2. Organize a Community Soup Kitchen
If your parish, chapel, or Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) can do it, organize a “kusina sa kalooy” (kitchen of mercy) to provide warm meals for the hungry, especially in evacuation centers or hard-hit barangays.
3. Provide Psychological and Spiritual Debriefing
Many survivors carry invisible wounds. Those who are capable — counselors, teachers, social workers, religious, and priests — can offer psychological first aid, prayer encounters of healing and hope.
4. Support Bereaved Families
If you know a family who has lost loved ones, consider extending a small bereavement fund or simply being present to comfort them. A short visit, a shared prayer, or words of compassion can mean so much.
5. Donate Clothing, Blankets, and Hygiene Kits
Clean clothes, towels, and toiletries are often overlooked but deeply needed. Gather your community or youth group to collect and distribute them to evacuation sites.
6. Volunteer Your Skills
Doctors, nurses, electricians, carpenters, drivers, and IT experts — everyone’s skill matters. Offer your time and expertise to assist medical missions, relief coordination, or rebuilding efforts.
7. Participate in Parish Caritas Drives
Coordinate with your Parish Caritas or Cebu Caritas centers. Drop off donations at designated collection points or help in sorting and repacking goods.
8. Help Rebuild Homes and Chapels
Organize small teams to assist in repairing damaged chapels and homes of the poor. Even simple acts like cleaning debris or repainting walls restore dignity and hope.
9. Offer Prayers and Mass Intentions
Never underestimate the power of prayer. Offer Masses, rosaries, or holy hours for the victims, the responders, and all who continue to help. Let every chapel and home become a place of intercession.
10. Advocate for Integrity and Accountability
Pray and speak for honesty in the use of public funds for reconstruction. Let us not allow corruption to add to the suffering of our people. As Christians, our compassion must be coupled with justice.
11. Care for Our Common Home
Plant trees, clean rivers, and promote waste management in your barangay. The floods remind us that ecological care is also an act of love for the poor.
12. Give Hope
When survivors feel forgotten, a small message of encouragement, a visit, or a post of solidarity can lift spirits. Let us remind them that they are not alone — that the Church walks with them.
Let us be living witnesses of God’s mercy. When we help, comfort, and accompany, we become instruments of hope.