Mighty Corp, charitable arm gave donation to Yolanda victims

The Wong Chu King Foundation (WCKF), a philanthropic non-government organization providing assistance to poor and underprivileged sectors, has donated more than P4-million benefitting directly and indirectly hundreds of victims of super-typhoon Yolanda in Leyte, Cebu, Iloilo and Capiz.

Camille Arsenal, WCKF coordinator, said the foundation’s board of directors led by its chairman, Nelia Wong Chu King, approved the release of the funds to the victims, including 78 employees of Filipino cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corp (MC) and their dependents whose homes were either totally or partially destroyed by the typhoon.

“WCKF did not think twice after learning of the extent of the disaster. The victims were given enough funds to enable them to pick up the pieces and recover from the disaster,” Arsenal said.

“We treat our employees like family,” explains Mrs. Wong Chu King, whose foundation is MC’s corporate social responsibility arm.

Yolanda, the most powerful tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines last year, slammed the country on November 8 and barrelled through most of the Visayas, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.

The latest from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council lists at least 5,209 killed, 23,404 injured and 1,611 missing, but government updating of  figures on the disaster remains unfinished. Initial estimates placed the death count at 10,000.

Created in 1990, WCKF aims to perpetuate the memory of Wong Chu King, the family patriarch, a philanthropist who had provided assistance to the poor and underprivileged in his lifetime.

The foundation also aims to encourage and promote education through scholarship programs and raise funds for charitable, cultural and educational purposes.