December 1 – A fund raising appeal for Typhoon Haiyan victims in the Philippines initiated by three Labor Party opposition members of the Federal Parliament raised close to $15,000.
Nearly 400 Sydneysiders turned up to support the typhoon relief fund raiser held at the ground of Arnott’s complex in Huntingwood in Wester Sydney.
In only a matter of hours, the event managed to raise $10,000 with the funds being directed to respected aid agency Caritas Australia. A Facebook posting in the fundraiser’s Facebook site placed the total as of December 2 2013 at $15000.
The event was organised by Federal Labor MPs Ed Husic (Chifley), Michele Rowland (Greenway) and Chris Bowen (McMahon), each of whom addressed the gathering promising not to let up their support of Filipino friends as the nation battles to recover fro the devastating November 8 typhoon.
NSW opposition leader and Member for Blacktown ,John Robertson, also gave up his time to attend the event, along with Philippines Consul General Anne Jalando-on Louis.
“It was a fantastic to see many people from the Australian-Filipino community turn out today to show not just moral, but financial support for their friends and relatives left devastated by this massive storm,” Ed Husic said,
“Western Sydney has a very large Filipino contingency, and the typhoon has touched many people here too with so many concerned about friends and family trying to pick up the pieces,” he added.
Today;s event was generously hosted by Arnotts, an amazing corporate backer locally.
Plant Manager Trevor Campbell addressed the large crowd at the fundraiser, saying 10% of Arnott’ 350 strong workforce at Huntingwood are from the Filipino community, so the company was more than happy to be involved in the event.