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WHEREAS, sweeping westward across the Pacific Ocean and South China Sea, the category 5 super typhoon known as Haiyan, or Yolanda in the Philippines, lasted from November 3 through November 11, 2013 and left in its wake severe devastation, particularly in the Philippine Visayan islands region; and
WHEREAS, now calculated as the second-deadliest Philippine typhoon in recorded history, the storm made landfall in the Eastern Samar province on November 8 with estimated winds of 195 mph, making it the strongest tropical cyclone on record; and
WHEREAS, Tacloban, a waterfront city with more than 220,000 residents, was struck particularly hard by the storm and struggled largely on its own for at least five days, with thousands of deaths already reported; and
WHEREAS, as international aid streams in to assist recovery efforts, the Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh has stepped up with a calamity fund and are soliciting donations for aid; and
WHEREAS, with a hard-working team of volunteers and supportive members, the FAAP is a strong and dynamic organization with no paid staff and a commitment to the spirit of "bayanihan," a Filipino term that came from the tradition of a community joining together to help one of their own families move to a new place by literally moving the house to a new location-the Filipino symbolic equivalent of a barn raising, where many hands make light work; and
WHEREAS, first beginning as an informal social group in 1957, the association then formally organized in 1964 as the Samahang Pilipino ng Pittsburgh, later translated from Tagalog into English as the Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh, Inc. (FAAP) in 2000 when it was incorporated as a non-profit organization; and
WHEREAS, the FAAP works to fulfill its commitments to three pillars of culture, charity, and education:
culture through traditional performances at the Pittsburgh Folk Festival and the Asian-American Heritage Festival, and at the Smithsonian Museum to commemorate the Philippine Day of Independence,
charity through disaster relief and assistance to orphanages in the Philippines, local food banks and community shelters, and community improvements via organizations like the Western PA Conservancy,
and education through its Simplicio Maramba Scholarship fund, conversational Tagalog classes, and its current effort to create the Philippine Nationality Room at the Cathedral of Learning; and
WHEREAS, the FAAP is currently planning events to bring local awareness of Typhoon Yolanda and to raise funds to go toward recovery efforts in the Republic of the Philippines, including through their annual Christmas party being held on December 14, 2013.
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THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby recognize the tragic human devastation brought to the Philippines by Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda and the efforts of the Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh to encourage the City and region to give aid.
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare Tuesday November 19, 2013 to be Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh Day and a Day of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda Awareness in the City of Pittsburgh.