Help Wen's family rebuild after Typhoon Rai

Richard Miller is organizing this fundraiser.

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Wen's hometown of Surigao, Philippines took a direct hit from Category 4 Super Typhoon (Hurricane) Rai just after midnight on Thursday morning the 16th. Wen's mom, her 2 brothers and their families, an aunt, and an uncle's homes and possessions were completely destroyed. (Save one vehicle that is still driveable.)

Wen's mom owns a grocery store. That building is still standing (minus a roof) but the inventory, refrigerator, and AC were destroyed.

Wen's mom is a pillar of the community and she has donated food and other assistance to those in need on several occasions to help during Covid.

Before the storm hit, Wen's mom had just finished preparing Christmas care packages of food and basic needs for 200 less fortunate families in town, as she does every Christmas. She was going to pass these out on the 18th. These care packages were also destroyed.

Wen did not learn that her family survived the storm until early Sunday morning (3 days later) when a cousin was able to take a 5.5 hour bus ride to Butuan. (The nearest city that had cell service and electricity.)

The family likely survived the storm because they all took refuge in the store building that is made mostly of concrete and cinder block. The families and kids all huddled in a corner on the 2nd floor as the roof blew off.

Wen was finally able to speak to her mom Sunday night when she made it out of town with the family to buy water and food. No one knows how long it will take to restore electricity, communication, or other basic services.

Wen is handling this crisis well, and we are incredibly thankful that her

family survived. (Many were not so lucky.)

Wen's family are honest and hardworking people, but, obviously, this is a devastating blow that they would not be able to quickly recover from without outside help. They are also humble people that wouldn't ask for this kind of help for themselves, so I am asking for your donations to help with the construction cost of rebuilding their homes and providing water, food, clothing, and basic needs as the family puts the pieces back together.

Wen's brothers are carpenters so will be able to do much of the labor themselves. If we are able to raise enough money, we hope to at least rebuild mom's house to be hurricane resistant, of similar construction as the store.

Some money will also go to getting the grocery store back up and running (roof repair, inventory, refrigerator, AC) so the family has an independent income source. All the money raised will go directly to Wen's family to meet the needs mentioned above.

Thank you in advance for your generosity. Wen's family is not expecting this help, and wouldn't ask for it, but I know they will be so very grateful for it during their time of need. The good news is that a dollar goes farther in the Philippines than the US, so every little bit will help.

Go fund me asked me to say who I am and my relationship with the family. My name is Richard Miller and I'm Wen's boyfriend. Wen asked me to create and post this fundraiser on behalf of her and her family.