UPDATE: Typhoon Haiyan has leveled the school…it’s completely gone. The students are, however, still attending. Jona is sending supplies over to help, especially since shipping to the Philippines is free right now (as of 25 November). If you would like to help by donating school supplies, please call 253.571.1139.
Jona Rivera began helping with Fern Hill’s after-school programs after seeing how much the University of Washington Tacoma reading program had helped her daughter, Leighan.
“The after-school program has helped expose her…to new, fun activities,” she says. “I learned new things and it helped my grammar,” Leighan adds. Jona’s son, Josh, has just started at Fern Hill and is also involved in the programs.
This last summer, Jona visited Pandan, her husband’s home province in the Philippines. Students in his small farming village have little access to school supplies—so Jona took them with her. Armed with school supplies, books, clothes, and food, she was able to provide the entire school with what they needed.
“My father use to tell me, ‘In your own, simple way, when you give to others, you leave a legacy,'” she says.
