CARE calls on community to take part in Soudelor anniversary events

Commonwealth Advocates for Recovery Efforts and its network partners are coordinating and hosting a series of events to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Typhoon Soudelor. The purpose of these events is to celebrate the island community’s unity to reflect on what it havs learned and how far it has come in its collective recovery, and to honor the resiliency and strength of all who provided aid and all who were impacted—especially those still working toward recovery.

The anniversary date of Soudelor is Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016. Additional events may be added to this schedule, but at this time the following events are confirmed to take place from Aug. 1 to Aug. 7, 2016:

Governor’s Proclamation Signing
Date: Monday, Aug. 1, 2016
Time: 9am
Location: Governor’s Conference Room in Capitol Hill
Who: All interested community members

SOU’ Rise Sunrise Vigil
Date: Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016
Time: 5am-6am
Location: Capitol Hill Baseball Field
Who: Faith communities, first responders, and all interested community members

Humanities Council Film Festival
Date, Time and Location: TBD
Who: All interested community members

SOU’ Ride to Recovery
Date: Saturday, Aug. 6
Time: Morning
Location: Villages island-wide
Who: Matua Riders Motorcycle Club members

SOU’ Fest: Community celebration with games, live entertainment, food vendors, disaster preparedness information and giveaways, and the SOU’ Fest Show Down Karaoke Contest!
Date: Saturday, Aug. 6
Time: 6pm-11pm
Location: Garapan Fishing Base
Who: All interested community members. Families and kids welcome!

Tournament of Champions: Closest to the Pin and CARE Pledge Contests
Date: Saturday, Aug. 6, and Sunday, Aug. 7
Location: Lao Lao Bay Golf & Resort
Who: Tournament of Champions participants

In addition to these events, community members will start to notice blue and yellow ribbons displayed on repaired telephone poles and in other locations around the community. Five hundred Ribbons for Resiliency will be displayed across the community as a visual reminder of how far we’ve come in our recovery. These are intended to remind us of how much repair and restoration work has been completed over the past year, and to convey gratitude for all those who have contributed to the recovery. These 500 ribbons also serve to bring awareness to the more than 500 families who still have unmet needs today, especially for repair and rebuilding assistance, more than a year after Soudelor left us.

For more information about SOU’ Week events hosted by CARE network partners, go to

http://carecnmi.org/events/anniversary-events.

Any organizations or individuals interested in contributing to planning efforts are welcome to join the Anniversary Planning Team, which meets weekly on Mondays at 2:00PM in the Governor’s Conference Room in Capitol Hill. Contact Maxine Laszlo, CARE AmeriCorps Volunteer, at cnmicare@gmail.com for more information.

CARE is helping to build a more resilient community by facilitating coordination between network partners, business and government leaders, and community volunteers; identifying unmet needs; and delivering long-term support to those most impacted by disaster. For more information, go to www.carecnmi.org.