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Christmas and the #YolandaPH Victims (Part 2): Give Gifts That Give Life

Tina Santiago-Rodriguez - The Philippine Star

December 13, 2013 | 4:24pm

This whole month of December, I will be dedicating all my weekly posts to the victims of Yolanda, and highlighting different ways that we can help in relief efforts, big and small. It is my hope and prayer that by doing so at least one person, one family's life will be changed somehow.

First of all, allow me to thank everyone who supported or are planning to support the different relief campaigns that I shared in my previous post - Part 1 of this series of posts on how to help the Yolanda victims. Every little thing that we can do to help goes a long way, even just sharing posts like this on our social media networks.

Now, on to the ways to help. Here are a few more "do-able" suggestions for giving gifts that give life, particularly to our brothers and sisters who have been affected by Typhoon Yolanda:

1. Buy Mingo Christmas cards and feed Yolanda victims.

If you haven't heard of it now, Mingo meals are a project of the Negrense Volunteers for Change (NCV) Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Bacolod. Mingo is a combination of mungo, malunggay and rice, and is part of the NCV's Start Right, Live Bright Nutrition Program, especially for toddlers and young children. In light of recent tragedies like Yolanda, Mingo has also been and still is being used for emergency nutrition/meals for victims.

A Mingo card, which costs P250, is equivalent to a P250 donation, which in turn "helps feed, for a sustained period of six months, children who were victims of typhoon Yolanda." According to NCV, beyond emergency relief, Mingo card buyers are providing long-term assistance that will really make an impact on the kids' growth and development.

For more information about Mingo cards, copy and paste this address into your browser: https://facebook.com/nvcfoundation/posts/621791381195853

2. Share your breast milk and/or encourage others to do so.

My friends at Medela Moms (http://facebook.com/medela.moms) have been helping gather breast milk donations for moms and babies who need breast milk for quite some time now, including victims of natural disasters like Yolanda. The milk is then transported to hospitals like Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and Philippine Children's Medical Center (PCMC) for pasteurization.

According to Atty. Jenny Ong, breastfeeding advocate, peer counselor and blogger, after pasteurization, Unang Yakap-EINC, in coordination with the Department of Health, then coordinates with the concerned agencies/people who are directly in contact with victims. This is one way to ensure that the people who receive the breast milk are armed with the knowledge for infant feeding during emergencies, including breastfeeding counseling.

For more detailed information about breast milk donations for Yolanda victims, you may refer to Jenny's post on Chronicles of a Nursing Mom here: http://chroniclesofanursingmom.com/2013/11/milk-donation-for-yolandaph-where-your.html

3. Support Yolanda fundraisers, like those endorsed by Gawad Kalinga.

Gawad Kalinga has a page on its website that is specifically dedicated to relief efforts for Yolanda victims - http://gk1world.com/typhoon-yolanda. It describes different ways we can help - in cash, in kind, as volunteers, or even as fundraiser organizers.

A separate page (http://gk1world.com/yolanda-fundraisers) shows how other groups and businesses are supporting Gawad Kalinga's work for typhoon victims. If you're considering making purchases this Christmas (and beyond), you may want to look at the different businesses and brands that are featured on the page, under the heading, "Retail Therapy."