Anyone who doubts that a single individual can positively impact the lives of others should meet Rose Publico Allen.

When Typhoon Haiyan ravaged her native Philippines in November, Rose and her husband Rob sprang into action to lend assistance to Filipino survivors.

The couple celebrates Christmas today, knowing that their relief efforts made a difference in the lives of more than 500 individuals in five days on the opposite side of the world.

“The best Christmas gift I can have is helping people,” said Rose. Most Filipinos embrace Roman Catholicism and observe Christmas.

The death toll from the Nov. 8 typhoon and its sustained winds of 195 mph has exceeded more than 6,000. Thousands more were left without food, water or shelter.

“When we learned about the typhoon and read online about the devastation, we were shocked because we know people in Tacloban City,” said Rob.

Tacloban, a small coastal city in the Leyte province, is about a five-hour car ride from Rose’s hometown of Matalom.

“Rose and I felt that we needed to do something with this right away. We didn’t want to give money to relief organizations and such because once you give money, you have no idea when and how and where it’s going to end up.”

Rose took it upon herself to directly organize and coordinate a relief endeavor.

Rose contacted family members and friends by Skype and Facebook and asked them to buy food with $600 from the couple. Her mother, six sisters and three brothers provided the legwork to deliver the food.

Rose immigrated to the United States six years ago after she and Rob married. They met and courted on an Internet website, Cherry Blossoms, specializing in Asian dating.

“It pretty much was love at first sight,” recalled Rob. “It didn’t take long for our relationship to take off.”

They began Internet dating at the end of November and in January, he traveled to the Philippines to meet her face-to-face for the first time.

“That’s how quick it was,” said Rob, a senior consultant of Synersys Consulting.

Logistics

The logistics of sending money to the Philippines and coordinating food purchases became their first priorities after the typhoon hit.

“To get money over there was a major hurdle because there was no electricity, no banks operating and no ATM machines,” said Rob.

Rose visits her homeland where she owns a pawn shop and loan business at least once a year. Her last trip was in June.

Her volunteers divided staple food items into 100 relief packages. Rose arranged for a small truck to drive the volunteers and food bundles to 100 Tacloban families.

A second phase of her relief effort started Nov. 22 and finished Nov. 27 to assist two other communities, Matalom and Burauen, Leyte.

Rose and Rob collected donations at the local Jazzercise studio where they are members.

Jazzercise owner and instructor Jeri Hensel said members and donors contributed $1,300 by “deleting a cup of coffee for a couple of days or reaching into our pockets to rescue those who may otherwise die.”

Rose itemized all donations and the cost of buying supplies. She insisted on a photograph of each numbered bag as a volunteer presented the food to a recipient.

“Rose made her efforts so transparent, which is unlike a lot of fundraising activities,” said Rob.

“She went to great pains and effort to document where the money was spent, when it was spent and how much was spent.”

In Burauen alone, 275 families each received two kilos of rice. In Matalom, 156 families were each given three kilos of rice, sardines and noodles. Another seven families received sheets of corrugated metal to replace destroyed roofs.

“It’s amazing how fast she got things done,” said Rob. The couple believes that more than 90 percent of the money bought food and supplies for individuals by bypassing government intervention.

Dwindling supplies escalated prices with each purchase. At one point, volunteers were forced to travel by ferry to Cebu on another island to buy food to distribute.

The Allens have exhausted fundraising among their social circle, said Rob.

“If we could, without a lot of fuss, Rosie would do more of this. God knows there is so much to do,” said Rob.

Their next focus would be construction materials to replace destroyed and damaged huts.