On Christmas Day, many Filipino Christians flocked to their local churches to celebrate the holiday.  However, the devastating typhoon Haiyan destroyed many buildings including places of faith like the Giporlos Catholic Church in Giporlos, Samar. It was not spared by the typhoon, the strongest ever recorded in history to hit landfall. The church is in the middle of the town and is more than a place of worship. It also serves as a community and youth center with most of the town folk are predominantly Roman Catholic. Evelyn Castillo, Liaison of the Bayanihan Foundation pleaded to help rebuild the broken stained glass windows and help restore dignity to the historic church.

Volunteers Roxzine Albutra and Gretchen Lo points out the broken stained glass windows of historic Giporlos Church being replaced

In December 2014, I went back to Giporlos and inspected the broken stained glass windows. I was pleasantly surprised that they replaced almost all the broken windows. The foundation’s small donation efforts made tremendous impact in the aesthetics of the historic church and another concrete step forward in the town’s rebuilding efforts.

(left to right): Fr. Eutiquio Belizar of Giporlos Catholic Church and Evelyn Castillo of Bayanihan Foundation

Fr. Eutiquio Belizar, parish priest of the Giporlos Catholic Church was particularly thankful of the donation to help rebuild the historic church. The foundation’s support shows the successful support of diaspora philanthropy and faith-based efforts.