Local Filipinos and their supporters are marking the three-month anniversary of a deadly typhoon in the Philippines today by launching a fundraising drive at a grocery store in San Francisco’s Mission District.
Rainbow Grocery, a worker-owned grocery cooperative at 1745 Folsom St., will be donating 100 percent of the store’s profits between today and Thursday to fund relief and rebuilding efforts related to Typhoon Haiyan, which killed thousands of people in the Philippines in November.
The money will go to the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, a group based in the city’s Excelsior District that has been helping to support the typhoon victims and their families.
“Even though the typhoon hit in November, there is still a lot of relief that needs to happen,” Rainbow Grocery donations committee member Christa Irwin said.
San Francisco Supervisors John Avalos, David Campos and Jane Kim were expected to attend the campaign kickoff at the grocery store this morning.
Filipino activists today are also using the anniversary to call on U.S. State Department officials to recommend that the Department of Homeland Security grant temporary protected status to undocumented immigrants from the Philippines currently in the U.S.
NAFCON spokesman Jun Cruz said that federal designation is often given to immigrants from countries that have suffered a large calamity, such as the large earthquake in Haiti in 2010, and offers protection from deportation, authorization for work and eligibility to travel.
The State Department is expected to make its recommendation in the next week, according to the group, which is holding a rally at 12:30 p.m. today outside of San Francisco City Hall.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
