By David F. Rooney
As local businesses with Filipino employees begin ramping up efforts to provide disaster relief to the calamity-stricken island country, concerns for the safety of one woman who has been there for three weeks were laid to rest on Tuesday morning.
Regent General Manager Brady Beruschi had been worried about the safety of long-time employee Alice Mayall.
“She has worked for us for over 10 years,” he said. “She has been in the Philippines for approximately three weeks. We have not heard from her, and are unaware of her current situation there. Hopefully she is safe.”
However, Alice’s husband Keith Mayall told The Current she is safe and the area she was in on the island of Cebu was not as hard-hit as other regions of the Philippines. She is due back in Revelstoke on November 23.
That will doubtless be good news for Beruschi, who was out of town until just recently and is just now trying to organize a disaster relief plan.
McDonald’s is another Revelstoke business with Filipino workers on staff. Owner-operators Kevin and Cathy Blakely told The Current that the friends and families of their employees are said to be safe.
“A very sad situation in the Philippines,” they said. “The good news is that all of the Filipinos that we have working for us, their friends and families we not affected and are safe as they live away from where the storm hit hardest.”
The Blakelys said McDonald’s Restaurant’s of Canada Ltd. will be making a donation directly to Ronald McDonald House Charities Philippines.
“The situation in the Philippines directly impacts people from across the McDonald’s Canada system, many of whom have family and friends in the Philippines,” they said, adding that they are encouraging people to make cash donations to the international disaster relief campaign.
To make a financial donation to the Typhoon Haiyan Fund by credit card, please visit http://www.redcross.ca/donate/donate-online/donate-to-the-typhoon-haiyan-fund or call 1-800-418-1111. The federal government has announced a matching donations program whereby all donations made by individual Canadians to approved organizations (like the Red Cross) will be matched.
There are also three official McDonald’s bank accounts set up to receive donations:
Dollar Donations – Golden Arches Development Corp
Citibank NA
8741 Paseo de Roxas, Makati City, Philippines
Account Number : 0362-816-017
Swift Code : CITIPHMX
Peso Donations – Golden Arches Development Corp.
Citibank NA
8741 Paseo de Roxas, Makati City, Philippines
Account Number : 5-362-816-035
Swift Code : CITIPHMX
Dollar Donations – Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Philippines
Citibank NA
8741 Citibank Bldg.Paseo de Roxas Makati City
Account No# 060-1374-005
Swift Code: CITIUS33
