Thanks to grants from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund, three Kiwanis clubs in the Philippines will help families left in desperate need of food, shelter and water by a series of earthquakes.

After the quakes hit the southern island of Mindano in October, the death toll has exceeded 20. At least one school collapsed, and the International Red Cross estimates that 35,000 people were displaced.

The Kiwanis clubs of MatahumDabaw, Magandang Gensan and Geo-Ormoc received the Children’s Fund grants to provide disaster relief. The Geo-Ormoc club, which is on the Visayas chain of islands, said it would focus on the already marginalized Bagobo tribal communities of Davao del Sur. In addition to providing food, water and blankets, the club is dispatching three club members who are social workers to help with psychosocial trauma.

“We believe the that apart from the material necessities these victims are needing, it is equally helpful to lessen their anxiety and shock,” the club wrote in its grant application.

The Kiwanis Club of MatahumDabaw is sending medicine and tents for victims who need temporary shelter. The Kiwanis Club of Magandang Gensan is sending water, sacks of rice, first-aid kits and toiletries to the nearby town of General Santos to “help sustain their day-to-day living.”

The Kiwanis Children’s Fund administers grants for disaster relief to provide money quickly to help clubs get supplies to people who are most in need. A maximum of US$5,000 can be granted to support Kiwanis-led disaster relief efforts that address crucial, immediate needs of the affected community. Find more information about this program and how you can help at kiwanis.org/kiwanisresponds.