About 25 Peace volunteers and members of the  Filipino-American community in MA, supportive of the literacy mission of Pinoy Reading Buddies (PRB),  finished packing 7 boxes (27″ x 18″ x 17″) yesterday from 11am to 4:00pm. With just a few minutes to take a quick lunch break, Sharon Jones, Carter Vogt, and a few male  volunteers  (Dan Greenstein, Warren Green, Bob Holmgren, Alan Vogt, Jonathan Moretz and others gamely hauled in about 40 heavy Staple-size boxes of books,  from the truck parked  outside in  90 degree temperature. Then the books were sorted according to  reading level and then size, and packed neatly to  make sure that there will be room for about 2500 books. There were volunteers who prepared 118   packages of school supplies, filling up each ziploc bag with notebooks, rulers, pencils and a storybook. Boxes of crayons and sharpeners will complete each gift pack, and teachers were given notebooks and packs of index cards as well. These donations were meant for young Typhoon Haiyan survivors in who went back to school called Mabuhay Elementary, located in

Typhoon Haiyan broke the record as the strongest typhoon ever to to hit the planet and devastated the tiny islands of Leyte and Samar in the Philippines. At least 6000 people died and left in its wake thousands of homeless, injured and hungry. S ome volunteers happily inserted bookmarks in each book, adorned with bright ribbons, and  hole-punched for hours by Aidan and Keira Moretz, Heather Moretz and Corinne Fryhle.

The other volunteers who came included PRB supporters Mitch Fledman, David Greenstein, Bertha Coliflores and her sister, Norma; Cecile Mercado and her daughter, Niti; Monica Jimenez, Greg Hodge. Other Peace volunteers included Kim Ho and daughter, Gabby; Doris Wald and Deb Vogt.

Thank you all very much. Special thank you to Althea Korte who donated some funds to help pay for the shipping cost.

Please enjoy the photos!

Rowena Jimenez