Typhoon Haiyan Challenge
2013 - 2013
Students Rebuild partnered with Save the Children to support Typhoon Haiyan victims in the Philippines. Students around the world wrote letters matched with funds by the Bezos Family Foundation. Save the Children used these funds to provide students with temporary learning spaces, educational materials and more.
Your letters generated $200,000 to rebuild the Philippines
After Typhoon Haiyan struck in 2013, Students Rebuild partnered with Save the Children to support victims in the Philippines. Students around the world wrote thousands of letters that were matched with funds by the Bezos Family Foundation. Save the Children used these funds to provide students with temporary learning spaces, educational materials, and more.
Why the Typhoon Haiyan Challenge?
Motivation
When a devastating typhoon hit, the Philippines were left in need.
Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines on November 8, 2013. The powerful storm affected up to 14 million people, nearly 6 million of those children. Many homes were destroyed, and families lost all of their belongings.
Students learn how a major storm like Haiyan has long lasting impacts.
As students around the world learned about the physical destruction Haiyan brought, they also learned about the other consequences of such a serious storm. Our teams heard about the process of recovery, and how it can take months or even years to rebuild the towns destroyed. In a place where much of the economy is based on farming and fishing, a storm can destroy the crops and wash away the fishing boats, leaving many without work.
When the rain stopped, letters poured in.
Around the world, students sent in 8,804 heartfelt letters, resulting in a $200,000 donation from the Bezos Family Foundation. With this donation, Save the Children established a shelter program that helped families in the immediate aftermath, providing emergency kits and items to more to 47,500 families. It also supported families with small cash grants to get people’s livelihoods back on track, and job training and tools to over 600 carpenters to help them rebuild the infrastructure of their communities and their own livelihoods.
How to Participate
The ProcessLearn
Explore resources like lesson plans, art guides, and videos that help students explore who they are – their traits, experiences, and stories – and reflect on the shared humanity between individuals, cultures, and communities.
Create
Encourage students to express their vision for a more united world through their choice of literary, media, performing and visual arts, or STEM.
Share
Submit students’ creative works to Students Rebuild. Each submission or student engaged raises $5 to support organizations worldwide that foster connection and champion collaborative change, up to $1 million.
Get Started
New to Students Rebuild?
Quick Start GuideCheck out our Quick Start Guide, which walks you through how to participate step by step and lists all the resources available to you.
What's in it for you?
Aside from raising money through your creative works, every team or participant who submits artwork receives a downloadable Certificate of Participation. You can also request a detailed letter for service learning hours by emailing [email protected].
Mark your calendar!
All creative work must be submitted by June 30, 2013 11:59pm PDT. Ready to make a difference through creativity? Sign up or sign in today!
Typhoon Haiyan Challenge Progress
$200,000
raised of $200,000 goal
We’ve reached our donation goal!
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creative expressions
Every creative work generated raises awareness of the importance of empowering youth and building bridges! Submit now!
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youth engaged
Choose a Medium
Creativity has the power to change the world, and it’s something that all of us can do. Explore the 5 mediums you can use for your Students Rebuild project.
Literary Arts
Short stories, essays, and poetry.
Performing Arts
Dance, theater, and music.
Media Arts
PSAs, films, and videos.
Visual Arts
Graphic design, drawings, paintings, photography, and memes.
STEM
Robotics, digital design, and games.
The programs your art helps fund
For each Students Rebuild annual Project, we partner with high-impact organizations working on the ground to help strengthen communities worldwide—many of them household names. The funds we donate transform student work into immediate, on-the-ground progress for carefully vetted programs that are evaluated according to the outcomes they produce. In addition to extending our reach and helping our funding make more of a difference, our partners also inform the resources we provide to teachers and students.