PSS ‘dollar drive’ for typhoon survivors raises $10K

The Public School System was able to raise $10,000 for the victims of supertyphoon Haiyan in the Philippines and the amount was formally turned over to the American Red Cross-NMI Chapter yesterday.

The school system, led by Education Commissioner Dr. Rita A. Sablan, spearheaded the “Dollar Drive” to assist typhoon victims in Tacloban City, Leyte in the Philippines where many PSS employees have families that were affected.

In a short ceremony yesterday, American Red Cross-NMI Chapter executive director John Hirsh received the check donation from the Board of Education led by chair Herman T. Guerrero and the PSS leadership team.

“I am forever grateful to the community especially to our students, faculty, leadership team, and central office staff for all the commitment that they did for this dollar drive campaign. PSS was able to raise $10,000 for the victims in Tacloban City,” Sablan told Saipan Tribune.

PSS kicked off its dollar drive campaign last Nov. 15 where the system’s staff, school leaders, and board members trooped to the streets with their coin boxes encouraging motorists for support. The first dollar-drive effort was conducted after school hours in the island’s major roads. Just within the three-hour period, they were able to collect over $5,400, according to Sablan.

PSS finance director Derek Sasamoto told Saipan Tribune that the system raised a total of $5,422 on Nov. 15 and during the week of Nov. 18-22, an additional $3,100 were collected by schools as they continued the dollar drive.

“From those efforts alone, we were able to raise $8,600,” he said, adding that PSS and BOE decided to donate the additional $1,400 for the drive to achieve the flat $10,000. The additional funds were sourced from the funding left during the Pacific Education Conference.

For the commissioner, the success of the dollar campaign would not been possible if the staff and school leaders did not come in full force to really create an impact. PSS campaign is believed to have created a chain reaction after companies and organizations simultaneously came forward and gave charitable donations and monetary support for the typhoon survivors.

“In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we are grateful for such a wonderful support,” she added.