Porto’s to hold fundraiser for typhoon victims

Porto’s Bakery will host a fundraiser next week to raise money for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people and left millions displaced in the Philippines.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the bakery will set aside 20% from sales of regular-sized cheese rolls to donate to the American Red Cross, said Betty Porto, vice president of community relations.

“The magnitude of the disaster there, it’s such a horrible thing,” Porto said, adding that the Filipino community is a large part of the bakery’s clientele.

“Those people need help,” she added.

Porto said she hopes the fundraiser resonates with the community, being held so close to Thanksgiving.

“We have everything, we have food on our table,” Porto said. “Some people might not have anything.”

Porto’s, which has three locations in Glendale, Burbank and Downey, held a similar fundraiser in which it collected roughly $12,000 for the victims of the tsunami in Japan in 2011, Porto said.

Woodbury University also collected in-kind and monetary donations for typhoon victims this month. The items will be shipped to the Philippine Red Cross and the charity organization Caritas Manila.

The United Nations Humanitarian Action Plan for the typhoon response requested $301 million for relief efforts, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Follow Alene Tchekmedyian on Google+ and on Twitter: @atchek.

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