On September 29, 2009, AJ Rafael, fueled by the lack of media attention on Google News, CNN and Twitter decided to take it upon himself to raise any type of attention for the situation going on in Manila.
He used USream.tv, a lifecasting and video streaming website to start an online broadcast and help generate the hashtag #HelpPhilippines as a trending topic on Twitter.com.
“My good friend saw my frustration through tweets and led me to an article about how celebrities such as Tila Tequila and Soulja Boy make trending topics through UStream,” AJ said.Setting a goal of raising $1,000 for the Philippine Red Cross by the end of his broadcast, AJ fitted his blog with a widget that would accept monetary donations. For the broadcast he was accompanied by singers Cathy Nguyen, Andrew Garcia, and Albert Posis with several of his personal friends joining in on the show. Within an hour, AJ generated nearly 900 viewers to his broadcast, most notably singer Charice Pempengco.
Several other personalities such as PNOY Apparel, EyeASage, JR Aquino, Melissa Polinar, Kina Grannis, Mike Arellano of The Boogie Bots, Lydia Paek joined in via Twitter by tweeting #HealPhilippines to help generate the hash tag as a trending topic.
By the end of the broadcast, the total donations generated well over his projected $1,000, and more importantly brought the plight of the flood victims in the Philippines to the forefront of a social networking/media site.
“Now that we know we have the power to raise awareness and money for the victims of Ondoy, we must continue to spread the word! We must not stop this effort. More than 2 million people have been directly affected by this flood and they need our help and attention-- whether it be through a simple tweet or text, or by donating some extra clothes we have at home and blankets to keep them warm. We must stick together and not forget our Filipino brothers and sisters”, AJ said.
AJ’s efforts are only the beginning. He is already slated to appear on KababayanLA on September 30th, and I am sure he will be playing in numerous benefit shows across the country.
Related Posts
Ondoy Relief Effort: Los Angeles Organizations Will Collect Donations on October 3
A Call for the Pilipino BAYANIHAN Spirit in the Wake of Tropical Storm Ondoy
Jo Koy Urges You To Help The Victims of Tropical Storm Ondoy
Comments
Raising awareness is a good help in determining the capacity of each individuals.
We define conversation as an informal talking together, and that is exactly what social networking is all about sharing our voices, visions and personalities across the social web. People enjoy sharing what they are doing, reading, watching and offering their opinions, finding out about what others are doing, thinking and feeling as one with a community of like-minded people, in the new way of communicating online.
Barry Hertz
As an admitted Twitter addict, I was amazed as I slowly watched #HealPhilippines climb up the trending topic list. Too bad I'm in the central time zone and had to pass out before it hit number one!
I'm happy that in addition to mainstream media coverage which can only give about 3 minutes per hour at the most, we have things like this and Jo Koy's efforts (advertised mainly on Twitter and Facebook) to keep people updated and keep the support flowing. Great job guys! Let's keep it running!
UNICEF is matching donations from the community up to $100,000. I challenge our community to consider giving up a latte a day and eating out for just a night, aggregate that with all your friends and clubs and organizations, and together with your collective chump change, donate it to UNICEF-USA before October 6, 2009.
An anonymous donor is donating $100,000 to UNICEF by that date, if we can all collectively raise $100,000 that is Php 10 million pesos. It might not be big, but any small amount the size of a ripple becomes a big wave of hope for our kababayans.
wow, you know I'm soooo surprised that i havent seen so much coverage on this in the news. im glad that our community is responding so positively but i really am sad that instead of seeing this on the Yahoo website, all i saw was a baby dancing to beyonce's single ladies. like wow, which is more important to the media?
You know, I agree. I've seen some coverage on it, but I don't think its really gotten the amount of coverage in the mainstream as it should. I think now its up to us to spread the word, empower ourselves, and galvanize the community to take action. Whether its making donations, or organizing your own efforts, joining an organization's efforts, or even going there yourself to help the relief efforts -- our community can make a big difference.
I'm so glad that our community here in the US are coming together and trying to help out the victims in the Philippines. My cousin's house was flooded floor to ceiling on the first floor. Luckily their neighbors on the second floor of the apartment let them stay there for a while, although their roof was leaking from the massive amounts of rain coming through. My cousin says he tried to help as many people as he could, but he saw so many people in the water that he just couldn't help them all. One thing he said though was that there was so many people from different walks of life trying to help total strangers. I think in the wake of this disaster, its great to see the humanitarian spirit shine through. Lets help this cause as much as we can.
Is there a way on BakitWhy that I can help give through?