Before Wichita State junior MarcArthur Limpiado moved to the United States, he lived on the coast of the Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan recently hit this area, causing damage and loss of life.

“A reporter showed me a picture of this cathedral where I used to go, close to where my best friend lives,” Limpiado said. “That was hard, seeing the damage.”

Limpiado said his grandparent’s home was destroyed but his loved ones in the region are safe.

“They all survived, but the hardest part for us right now is ensuring how to contact them; making sure they have something to eat,” he said. “It’s hard to be here when they barely have anything.”

To make sure all of those in need have necessary supplies, Limpiado teamed up with fellow Filipino students, including junior Nouri Cruz.

Cruz was born and raised in the Philippines and moved to the United States three years ago, so he knows how dangerous the weather can be.

“When I was there three or four years ago, I did experience getting stranded in my school because of the floods, which were already up to my knees,” Cruz said. “And since the roads were already blocked because of the flood, I wasn’t able to get home that night.”

Cruz and Limpiado are part of a growing effort at WSU to start a student organization where Filipinos can feel at home. No official Filipino student organization exists on campus, but that hasn’t stopped them from sending supplies.

“We had just had our monthly dinner when the typhoon hit, so we realized that if we were all going to do the same thing anyway, we should do a drive that would promote within the campus,” said Jennifer Teves, a doctoral student at WSU.

To send clothes, food, medical supplies and other necessities, Teves and other students partnered with Project Pearls, a relief organization based in California, and the Filipino-Minnesotan Association in St. Paul, Minn.

“We don’t want to just sit around and watch what’s happening in the Philippines,” Cruz said. “We want to take action as well. It’s natural in the Philippines that when something goes wrong, we all come together as one.”