To the members of The Scarborough Hospital’s Medical Staff Association, it was a small but important gesture.

On Nov. 22, the association donated $1,000 to Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Parish for relief efforts in the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan.

“We wanted (the amount of money) to be something meaningful,” said Dr. Eric Hurowitz, a member of the hospital’s Medical Staff Association. “To us, it’s not that much money, but it’s sitting in a bank account not doing much. We could use it for a party, but it’s of a lot more use helping other people.”

Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church leads the Filipino Catholic Mission in Toronto and has already raised over $130,000 for the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan.

According to Ebcas, all donations have gone directly to villages affected by the typhoon. On Nov. 23, the church sent two truckloads containing 400 boxes each to the Philippines.

“The boxes sent to the villages contain canned goods, footwear, children’s clothing, adult’s clothing and some over-the-counter medicine donated by our volunteers that are in the medical field as well,” Ebcas said.

“I think all the doctors are grateful, because Father Ben is our connection to the communities who have been hit,” said Hurowitz, who presented the cheque to Ebcas on behalf of the association. “So, if we can’t get through directly, at least through him and his volunteers we feel like we could do something.”

The association wanted to make the donation public in order for the deed to be echoed throughout the community, Hurowitz said.

“We hope that our response will encourage another group of physicians or other citizens to do the same kind of thing and it becomes a multiply effect,” he said.