SILVER SPRING, Md.--In the Philippines, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is assisting nearly 22,000 survivors of Tropical Storm Ketsana in northern areas of the country through the distribution of emergency food supplies and bedding kits. Meanwhile, some 50,000 people in the hard-hit regions of Rizal and Laguna Province, near Metro Manila, are receiving food, bedding supplies, kitchen utensils, and hygiene kits.

"These projects seek to fill the needs of some of the hundreds of thousands victims and fill any gaps in assistance, while conducting relief operations to alleviate the harsh conditions currently experienced by displaced families," said Goran Hansen, country director for ADRA Philippines.

Beneficiaries are chosen in coordination with the Regional Office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, to identify families currently living in evacuation centers. Priority is being given to families with children, the elderly, those with disabilities, and individuals who lost their homes in the disaster.

"Our ongoing distributions in Manila and its nearby provinces brought us to the realization that the basic want for adequate food and decent bedding is unmatched in almost all of the assessed places and intervention areas," said Hansen.

The current intervention, set to begin later this week, is funded by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as ADRA Australia, ADRA Czech Republic, ADRA Denmark, ADRA France, ADRA Netherlands, ADRA New Zealand, ADRA Norway and ADRA United Kingdom.

Other interventions being implemented by ADRA Philippines have been funded by ADRA International, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Southern Asia Pacific region, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Central Luzon, Japan Platform/ADRA Japan, the ADRA Asia Regional Office, and ADRA Philippines.

As of October 19, the National Disaster Coordinating Council reported that the storm had killed 438 people, left 49 missing, and affected more than 4.1 million others. Tropical Storm Ketsana caused more than $355 million worth of damage.

On Saturday, September 26, Tropical Storm Ketsana, also known locally as Ondoy, hit northern Philippines bringing torrential rainfall, record flooding and deadly landslides, and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

In response to the storm, a state of National Calamity was declared for Metro Manila and 25 Luzon provinces on September 27, allowing officials to use emergency funds for relief and rescue.

As response efforts expand, follow ADRA on twitter and get the latest information as it happens.

To send your contribution to ADRA's Emergency Response Fund, please contact ADRA at 1.800.424.ADRA (2372) or give online at www.adra.org.

ADRA is a non-governmental organization present in 125 countries providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.

For more information about ADRA, visit www.adra.org.