Darcy Whyte, a Canadian inventor-artist based in Ottawa, was among the millions of Canadians whose hearts were touched by the unimaginable suffering caused by super typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

With his thoughts going out to a country where Christmas is the most important holiday, Darcy decided to start a project that could raise the spirits of his Filipino friends. Designing an open-source template for Philippine Christmas lanterns, he created a page on invertorartist.com called Parol Workshop 101 where frames for a 10", 14" or 24" parol can be downloaded for free, along with step-by-step assembly instructions.

Soon, he hears about a December 8 multicultural fundraiser at the Ottawa City Hall called Parol, A Star of Hope - A Tribute to Canada for Helping our People which the Filipino community initiated with the support of the Philippine Embassy and Mayor Jim Watson. In no time, Darcy contacted the Philippine Embassy to find out how he could contribute to the cause of rebuilding lives in central Philippines.

Darcy's parol kit was a hit among visitors to the community event. He promptly donated 100% of proceeds of his sales to Habitat for Humanity NCR whose President and CEO, Mr. George Hendry, was on site to receive cash donations totalling $10,412 in a single afternoon. The Canadian Government is expected to match this amount dollar for dollar under Canada's Typhoon Haiyan Relief Fund.

"I hope everyone makes them and hangs them in their window to share them.It was a lot of fun since a lot of my friends were there and I met many new friends. Also lots of entertainment, food and a collection of vendors," Darcy enthused. END