The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is calling for volunteers to reinforce the agency’s manpower in fast-tracking the packing of relief goods for typhoon Tisoy’s victims in Samar provinces, an official said.

“We have limited (work) force that is why we are looking for warehouse volunteers to help us pack relief items,” said Joshua Kempis, DSWD Eastern Visayas disaster response operation division information officer.

Volunteers will be assigned at the DSWD regional warehouse in Abucay village here where the prepositioned relief items are stored, Kempis told Philippine News Agency (PNA).

“Their main task would only be the repacking of relief items that will be utilized in the ongoing relief operations in Samar provinces,” he added.

Each family food packs contains six kilos of rice, four cans of corned beef, four cans of meatloaf, and six sachets of coffee. Also included are non-food items such as blankets, tarpaulins, among others.

The staff of the sustainable livelihood program of DSWD and several students of Eastern Visayas State University were the first batch of volunteers able to pack over 1,000 relief goods.

Interested volunteers should contact the officer-in-charge Jennifer Lawsin at mobile number 09355302422 for the scheduling.

As of Dec. 18, the DSWD distributed a total of 20,361 food packs to affected families in the towns of Northern, Eastern, and Western Samar.

Relief operations started on Dec. 3, a day after “Tisoy” made landfall in Northern Samar area.

Damage assessment and relief operations are still ongoing especially in far-flung and island villages in Samar provinces. (PNA)