About Us
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Why the name "Type of Wood"? Using coconut lumber to rebuild homes after typhoon Haiyan, Rob Sturgill got frustrated with the wood. When coconut lumber dries out it becomes hard as cement. Nails were bending and bouncing off in the attempt to hammer a nail through the wood. In his frustration Rob asked Joel, the Filipino helper, what he should do because it wasn't going his way.
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Out of the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan, Type of Wood Charities was created. In response to the Philippines devastation of Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest typhoon ever recorded, a small group of volunteers joined in the efforts to rebuild homes and help communities recover from the destruction/devastation.
After this life changing experience, Rob Sturgill knew more should be done to help others and created Type of Wood Charities. We have continued to return to the Philippines with groups of volunteers ready to share their time, talents, love and resources. Our efforts have expanded to Africa and Ukraine.
Joel smiled from ear to ear and simply exclaimed: "Type of Wood". During the remainder of the trip, anytime something didn't go the way we planned, instead of getting frustrated, we would look at each other, smile and say "Type of Wood"! This became a moto and eventually the name of the charity.
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Since the development of Type of Wood Charities, we expanded our work into Africa in 2019. Then when the conflict began in Ukraine February, 2022 we began helping volunteers serve in Poland and Ukraine. We hope to continue growing our network into more countries in the future to serve more people worldwide.
"Sometimes God gives us hard wood to build with. We don't focus on the wood, we focus on what we are building."
Rob Sturgill, Founder, Type of Wood Charities
Our Mission
To provide volunteers the opportunity to share their Time, Talents, Love and Resources with people in need around the world.
Most people want to help others, relieve suffering or reduce the effects of poverty, but are not sure where to begin. We created Type of Wood Charities to help people to help others. Through donations or serving as a volunteer, people can share their time, talents, love and resources to help others. We will continue to grow our efforts to help people to help others around the world.