25 January 2012 - The Philippine Consulate General in New York reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that 16 volunteers from the Handang Tumulong Foundation, Inc. (HTFI), Kagayanon Association, Association of Filipino Teachers in American (AFTA), Filipino-American Association of Fair Lawn, Philippine Consulate General in New York, and other Filipino-American Community members worked together in packing brand new linens, including bed sheets and towels, from Marriott Hotel New York for those affected by Typhoon Sendong in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities.
The linens, which filled 51 balikbayan boxes, were packed at the Marriott Hotel New York Storage Center in Edison, New Jersey on January 21. The volunteers were welcomed by Storage Center Manager Jim Morris who expressed the Marriott Group's sympathy for all those affected by the natural disaster and reiterated his company's desire to extend assistance in some way to the victims of last year's devastating floods and rains.The volunteers from the Consulate and the Filipino Community braved a winter snowstorm to help pack and label the boxes which will be sent to the Tabang Sendong Relief Program of Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro under the name of HTFI. Among the youngest volunteers were children from the Mataguel and Verdaflor families who were eager to do their part for the typhoon victims.
Different Filipino Community organizations and individual donors sponsored the cost of sending each of the balikbayan boxes.Consul General Mario L. De Leon, Jr. congratulated the HTFI and the other Filipino Community organizations and volunteers for another inspirational example of the bayanihan spirit at work in the US Northeast Region. He also thanked the Marriott Group for its generosity and civic-mindedness. END