Contact: Dolores Quinn Kitchin, Public Relations, Children International, 816-942-2000, mobile 816-718-0711

TABACO, Philippines, Dec. 7 /Standard Newswire/ -- Phones are dead. Schools are closed. Electricity is out all over the city of Tabaco as field workers for Children International, a Kansas City-based child sponsorship organization, try to assess the damage left in the wake of Typhoon Durian.

The City Social Welfare and Development agency in Tabaco reports a total of 12 people are dead and 11,838 homes are completely or partially destroyed by the heavy winds and rains.

Children International has dispatched initial emergency funds in the amount of $10,000 to provide basic food items like rice and noodles for 5,000 families who now must rebuild.

Children International assists more than 36,000 children in this impoverished area of the Philippines. Children International's board of directors approved $1.5 million to help affected families in relief, recovery and rebuilding efforts.

"These families' lives are changed forever. The amount of devastation left behind by Typhoon Durian is staggering. We are working very hard to provide the vast number of survivors with emergency provisions and hope that they are not alone," says James R. Cook, president of Children International.

Children International is accepting donations to help in the rebuilding efforts. To donate, visit www.children.org.

Established in 1936, Children International is a nonprofit organization with its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Children International's programs benefit over 320,000 poor children and their families in 11 countries around the world, including Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Zambia and the United States. For more information about Children International, visit http://www.children.org.