Help Mary recover after devastating accidents

Mary is our wonderful former colleague who lives in the Iloilo province of the Philippines. Unfortunately, in recent months, Mary and her family have endured unimaginable tragedy and they urgently need our voluntary help.

In December 2023, a sudden maneuver by a toc-toc driver caused Mary to fall from the vehicle and lose consciousness. The next thing Mary remembered was waking up in the ICU with stiches in her head and injured elbows and legs. Despite her serious trauma and weakened health, Mary could not afford to stay in the ICU for more than a few days. Neither the driver at fault nor Mary had insurance, so Mary had no choice but to leave the hospital and try to recover on her own. Mary exhausted her savings to pay a USD 2,700 hospital bill and she is still recovering from the accident but can’t afford needed medical follow-up.

But that wasn’t all. Weeks later, Mary’s Manila-based family experienced a devastating loss due to a fire. For decades, Mary’s family had rented two rooms in a residential and commercial building at Quezon City market (one room for the family and another for a business selling food and drinks). In early February 2024 at 5am, this building caught fire and burned to the ground, along with all the family’s cash and possessions. Mary’s family members thankfully survived. Mary’s two brothers were woken up by noise, flames and smoke, and everyone managed to rush out of the building barefoot, which saved their lives. But within minutes, Mary’s family lost everything in the fire, including two of their beloved dogs – Echo and JM.

Mary and her family are still suffering from the trauma of these back-to-back accidents and they need our support to recover. Other than giving the family some bedding after the fire, the Philippines government has not helped Mary’s family. Mary’s family had some limited insurance coverage, but it has thus far been a battle to even receive a partial payment. With this catastrophic absolute loss of shelter, income and savings, the family has had to separate into temporary housing and they are unable to cover debts and basic needs, such as the education of Mary’s teenage brother and medical bills for Mary’s diabetic mother and other urgent family medical needs.

Mary and her family are kind, hard-working people who are now struggling to rebuild their lives. But we can help. Please consider a heartfelt donation for Mary and her family! Thank you for your empathy, compassion and kindness. Mary and her family would be grateful for your voluntary support.

Before the fire

After the fire

Mary and her family in the room where they had a small business

For anyone from Philippines, you can directly send the donation to below account:

BDO Savings

Account Name: Mary Jonalyn D. Sarial

Account No: 011920020886