Tuesday, May 13, 2008
18,645 buried in town near quake epicenter

My heart goes out to all those affected by the recent earthquake in China.

I have to admit I'm getting nervous about all the massive tragedies happening across the globe recently. With the recent quarantine in Canada, deadly tornadoes in the states, the cyclone which kills tens of thousands in Myanmar and now the 7.8 scaled quake turning large sections of China into rubble. These things happen, I know, but in succession and in such large scales? I suppose I should stop fretting and just try to do my small part in helping.

News of the quake has been alarming. At least 8,500 people died in the Sichuan province alone after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit their region. And again much like in Myanmar, the government is welcoming and asking for aid but also stating aid workers are not allowed. Wang, the disaster relief official, said international aid workers would not be allowed to travel to the affected area. "We welcome funds and supplies, we can't accommodate personnel at this point," he said.

Chinese media says 18,645 buried in town near quake epicenter. You would think they would want all the help they can get for rescue efforts.

At this point in time I am unaware of specific places to donate money to the cause. The only fund set up appears to be with the Red Cross and unfortunately I feel they don't always give enough of the donations to the cause at hand. Every little bit helps of course.

Those of you more local to the quake site are encouraged to donate blood to victims. There is a definite shortage at this point and government officials are requesting blood donations from as many as possible.

There is a charity, Love Without Boundaries, which gives specifically to children and orphanges. You can donate money to their charity, choose the earthquake from the drop down of where you would like the amount to go.

Mercy Corp has set up an area to read the updated news about the earthquake and donate to the cause. The link will bring you right to the donation page.

China Mobile and China Unicom have also set up a service that allows mobile phone users to donate 1 or 2 kuai to the Red Cross Society of China by texting the number "1" or "2" to 1069999301.

The Beijing City International School has also launched an appeal for the victims of the May 12th earthquake, details of how to contribute available on their website. Also, we've just heard via a colleague who paid a visit to Lan at lunch that 1 kuai from every meal eaten at Lan and South Beauty nationwide will be donated to Jet Li's One Foundation earthquake relief fund.

Operation Blessing is a Christian charitable organization based in Beijing. They also have an office in Chengdu and are helping to coordinate any efforts to provide aid for victims of the earthquake victims. They work with the China Charity Federation and China Foundation in collecting funds legally and coordinating disaster relief activities.

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