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There are around 6,800 natural disasters worldwide every year, leaving small communities around the world struggling to pick up the pieces. To further the organization’s mission of helping rebuild and uplift communities affected by natural disasters, the MDRT Foundation – the charitable arm of the Premier Association of Financial Professionals® – is partnering with All Hands and Hearts (AHAH) to help fund and build schools in typhoon-affected areas of the Philippines.
All Hands and Hearts is dedicated to providing community-inspired, volunteer-powered disaster relief. MDRT volunteers will assist AHAH in providing residents in Tacloban City with updated school facilities to protect them from disasters and rebuild from Super Typhoon Yolanda. This includes two typhoon- and earthquake-resistant classrooms for 81 students; water, sanitation and hygiene facilities for an entire school; a new drainage system to combat flooding during monsoon season; repairs to pre-existing transitional learning spaces on site; and help implementing Disaster Risk Reduction training. The benefits from these volunteer efforts will aid more than 500 students and 15 staff members from kindergarten to grade six. Additionally, MDRT members raised more than 6 million PHP in funds for All Hands and Hearts at the 2023 MDRT Annual Meeting.
“The MDRT Foundation represents the dedication of MDRT members’ around the world to service and uplift people in need,” said MDRT Foundation President Andrew C. Lord, CLU, ChFC. “Through our partnership with All Hands and Hearts, we aim to provide both urgent aid and long-term recovery support for disaster-affected areas in the Philippines and around the world for the remainder for the year.”
For the remainder of 2023, MDRT members can also assist AHAH in hurricane, earthquake and wildfire relief efforts in the Mexico, Nepal, Turkiye, and the United States. “Each year, 20 tropical cyclones strike the Philippines, creating a vicious cycle of destruction that leaves communities devasted for months,” said Jessica Thompson, All Hands and Hearts CEO. “I’m thrilled that MDRT members are able to join All Hands and Hearts to provide safer learning environments for a community in need, and I’m looking forward to how our partnership with the MDRT Foundation will allow us to continue providing relief to impacted communities around the world.”
