SU donation helps repair local churches in Catanduanes, Albay

Donations from the Silliman University (SU) community helped enable local churches in Catanduanes and Albay to rebuild their church buildings after being damaged by Typhoons Rolly and Ulysses in November 2020.

The following churches under the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) South Bicol Conference were recipients of the cash donation from SU: Virac Evangelical Church (Catanduanes), Sulong Evangelical Church (Catanduanes), Gigmoto Evangelical Church (Catanduanes), and Tabaco Evangelical Church (Albay).

   
From the liquidation report of the Sulong Evangelical Church

 

A total of PhP263,341.15 was collected and sent to the UCCP South Bicol Conference (SBC) after SU made a call for donations last November 16, 2020 with the aim to “help rebuild the homes and means of livelihood of the people of Catanduanes and the First District of Albay” through SU’s alumni and friends working in the local communities.

“The money was used for the repair of the church buildings for labor and materials. We have received the report from the churches as well as their liquidation,” said SU Vice President for Development (VPD) Jane Annette L. Belarmino, whose office handles donation initiatives of the University.

Rev. Dr. Jeaneth H. Faller, SU Divinity School dean, said the churches started the repairs of their churches the moment they received the funds.

“The churches who received the donations were very happy and thankful to the University,” said Faller.

Faller said it was the Divinity School that made the request for the VPD’s office to launch the donation campaign for the typhoon victims in Catanduanes and Albay.

Faller’s office coordinated with the UCCP SBC minister and council for the donation campaign. Through the help of SBC officers, local churches that needed financial assistance were identified.

Divinity School alumni, said Faller, also helped in coordinating with the SBC.

“Most of the (Divinity School) alumni in SBC are members of the conference council so they were involved in the deliberations on how the funds will be utilized. They also agreed on which church to send the funds to, and especially on the monitoring,” Faller added.

The call for donations for Catanduanes and Albay was part of SU’s Continuing Calamity Response Program, which was established in 2013 after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Bohol and super typhoon Yolanda to give material, psychosocial and technical relief assistance to devastated communities.