Dear Fellow Ateneans and friends,
I hope this letter finds you and your family safe and healthy during these uncertain times amid a pandemic emergency. The Ateneo Alumni Association of Metro Washington DC is reaching out to ask for your support for those in the Philippines who are working hard to feed the urban poor affected by this global crisis.
The lock-down of the economy in our home country has resulted in unemployment and hardship for millions of people who work for daily wages or are part of the informal economy. With no income and little savings, these poor now depend heavily on the government and the philanthropy of private individuals, corporations, and non-profits for food assistance until the economy can fully re-open. The nature of the covid-19 virus has also put at extreme risk our medical and health support professionals, Ateneans included. They face an almost impossible choice — to not treat patients or to risk their own and their families’ health. Ordinary citizens in the Philippines have had to resort to unusual, even extreme measures, to handle both the pandemic and the pandemic response. I am sure each of us has a friend or family member who has shared some disconcerting or troubling aspect of life they have experienced in these pandemic times.
On the positive side the Ateneo community in the Philippines has stepped up confidently in solidarity with its many partners to fill the gaps in social support. Three months into this pandemic there has also been progress in understanding what needs to be done to recover. And yet, the current situation facing our communities remains dire and their needs remain great.
So we’d like to issue an appeal — and a call to action — to all of our Ateneo DC family and friends. Let’s help our less fortunate brothers and sisters in the Philippines get through this crisis by donating to the Tanging Yaman Foundation, a Jesuit-based foundation which has been providing food distribution through Jesuit missions in poor communities throughout Metro Manila.
To donate, via PayPal, click on this link: http://www.ateneodc.org/donate.html. On the comments, please write your name and “Tanging Yaman Foundation Donation”.
If you prefer to donate via check, please make check payable to AACAMWDC (which stands for Ateneo Alumni Charitable Association of Metro Washington DC). On the notes, please write “Tanging Yaman Foundation Donation”. Mail the check to:
AACAMWDC
c/o Volt Trinidad
534 Whetstone Glen St.
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
We will compile all these donations and will forward it to the Ateneo Disaster Response and Management (DReaM) Team which has partnered with Tanging Yaman Foundation.
Friends, let’s do this together, Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. Please forward this appeal to other Ateneans and your friends. One Big Fight against Covid19!
Jojo Mendoza
President
Ateneo Alumni Association of Metro Washington DC