Typhoon Relief

Friendster Partners With Billabong To Support Red Cross Appeal For Typhoon Victims

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 9 October, 2009 : - - Metro Manila, Philippines -- After the recent storms across Southeast Asia region, especially those in the Philippines, Billabong and Friendster are teaming up to help support the victims. Typhoon Ondoy, which roared across the Northern Philippines a few weeks ago, poured more than a month's worth of rain in just 12 hours.

Nearly 300,000 people were affected by the storm, including some 47,000 people who were brought to schools, churches, and other evacuation shelters. Fortunately, a week later, Typhoon Pepeng didn’t hit Manila directly as expected, but the storm’s heavy rains have affected others on Luzon Island over the past week.

Boardsports brand Billabong is set to host a major international surfing event on the island of Siargao later this month, with Manila being the headquarters for most of the event’s operations. Billabong and Friendster are joining together to assist with the Red Cross Appeal aimed at facilitating all levels of aid and relief for those struck worst by this natural disaster.

“Friendster is proud to join hands with Billabong to help provide support for the victims of the recent Typhoons.  We hope our efforts go some way to support the community in the Philippines in their time of need.” stated Ben Dunn, vp philippines and global head of brand experience. Friendster has developed a 'Friendster Cares' page which has already attracted over 16,000 supporters. The page contains information on relief efforts, places where you can make donations, and positive messages of support from the Filipino and international community. Click through to friendster.com/friendstercares to show your support and see what you can do to help.

Billabong will also be hosting an event at SM Mall of Asia in Manila on the 17th and 18th of October, this event is intended to set the stage for the larger Cloud 9 Invitational surfing event later in the month with international wakeboarding and skateboarding demonstrations, but will now serve as an extra drop point for those willing to donate to the Red Cross Appeal.

There will be Billabong giveaways for those who can provide canned food or decent standard clothing for the appeal. "It was hard for us to hear about what was happening up in Manila, as we work super close with all our Filipino crew" said Peter Thew, Billabong Asia brand manager, "We were hearing crazy stories about people we work with stuck on roofs for days at a time, which prompted us to find someway we could help, even a little".

This tragedy for the Philippines has seen an amazing banding together of the people, and social networking sites like Friendster played a major role helping people keep in touch with the world, and now with the relief effort. Jump on to the Friendster site to show your support or head down to SM Mall of Asia on the 17th and 18th of October to support the Red Cross Appeal for those affected by Typhoon Ondoy.

www.billabong.com
www.friendster.com/friendstercares

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Typhoon relief - Surfersvillage