“It’s not about the money. All of us are burdened at this time. We are feeling insecure with everything… (Despite this) you can just feel the generosity and the warmth and the heart of people. That gives me a lot of joy."
-- Ann Fontanilla, Executive Director of TWU GLOBAL - Branches
It began with an email to her coworkers.
The writer, Ann Fontanilla, Executive Director of TWU GLOBAL - Branches, said she was feeling saddened and grieved after seeing her “beloved country devastated by two super typhoons in a week.”
She was referring to typhoons Vamco (known in the Philippines as typhoon Ulysses) and Goni (Rolly), which hit the Philippines mid-November. That month, more than 468,000 people were evacuated from their homes.
In her email on November 15, she included YouTube links to news channels that had broadcasted footage of the devastation caused by the mega storms.
Fontanilla, who is from the Philippines, was especially concerned for the farmers and fishers affected by the typhoon.
“It’s so close to my heart,” she said
“We (in the Philippines) are used to typhoons,” she explained, “but the recent ones were just so devastating, and with COVID and everything, people were already suffering when the typhoon came.”
“It’s sad. It’s really sad.”
She wrote, “Rehabilitation will probably not happen any time soon as the water has not subsided yet…If you find it in your heart to give, let me know and I’ll send you more details.”
Fontanilla had originally planned to gather funds to purchase food and water for displaced families. However, soon her dream for helping others grew. She decided in her heart to “adopt a fisher family.”
Then, Fontanilla’s dream grew even bigger. “I wanted to buy a boat for one family,” she said. One boat to sustain a fisher family’s livelihood costs 95,665 Philippine pesos, or about $3,000 CAD.
Yet, Fontanilla had started a generosity movement.
Her simple, heartfelt sharing received a huge response. One colleague and professor, Dr. Imbenzi George, shared the news with his class of Master of Arts in Leadership students. They wanted to give as well.
By December 8, Fontanilla happily announced to her colleagues, “Because of your generosity, more importantly of your kindness, we now have funds good for (purchasing) two fishing boats.”
During the process, Fontanilla connected with Mayor Shierwin Taay from Dingalan municipality in Aurora, Philippines. Mayor Taay will coordinate the purchase and gifting of the fishing boats to families in Dingalan.
On December 9, Mayor Taay visited TWU virtually through Zoom, meeting with Dr. Imbenzi’s entire class for a roundtable conversation. The class included a diverse representation of students from Canada, Vietnam, China, India, and Bangladesh.
Fontanilla was moved by her community’s response to the needs of people overseas.
Reflecting upon the project, Fontanilla said, “It’s not about the money. All of us are burdened at this time. We are feeling insecure with everything… (Despite this) you can just feel the generosity and the warmth and the heart of people.”
“That gives me a lot of joy,” she said.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students to establish meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. It is a fully accredited research institution offering liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has five campuses and locations: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, Ottawa, and Bellingham, WA. TWU emphasizes academic excellence, research, and student engagement in a vital faith community committed to forming leaders to have a transformational impact on culture. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.