SAIPAN – When Super Typhoon Sinlaku struck the Marianas in April, Joey Indalecio Duenas was watching from more than 5,000 miles away.
The Saipan native, who moved to Washington in 2014 and joined DHL Express in Seattle as a delivery driver in 2018, approached his management with a plan to help, his colleague Sherrie Macaranas Tupas said.
With cross-regional approval from DHL leadership in Seattle, Guam, and Saipan, Duenas launched a donation drive at the Sea-Tac facility. The response from the network was strong, Tupas said, and the aid moved from Seattle to the islands through the DHL Express system.
Tupas, operations supervisor for DHL Express Guam and Saipan, said she personally coordinated the distribution with three CNMI organizations: Project Buddy Check 670, Karidat Social Services, and the Ohala Foundation. The relief reached families across Saipan and Tinian.
“This impactful relief effort was made possible by true collaboration within the DHL Express Organization, and we extend our deepest gratitude to Joey for his outstanding leadership,” Tupas said.
The drive is one of several diaspora-led recovery efforts that have moved goods and funds back to the Marianas in the six weeks since the storm.
NMI News Service’s Show Us the Good Out There series highlights people across the Marianas, and the Marianas diaspora, lifting each other up. Submissions can be sent to NMI News Service.
