Soliciting Earthquake Relief Donation
Since the 7.9-magnitude earthquake devastated Sichuan province in southwest China two days ago, I spent a large amount of time everyday on the web, following closely the rescue effort . The more I read, the more sad I feel, especially when I saw pictures of bodies young schoolchildren pull out from collapsed buildings. Yesterday, there was a picture of a girl killed in the quake on the web. A pen was still in her hand! My heart just sank.
Update: As of May 18th, according to the number released by the government, the worst disaster in China since 1976 has claimed 32,500 lives, with more than 220,000 injured. As rescuers reached more hard-hit areas, the death toll is expected to soar.
Though I am half-a-world away from the disaster, I want to help the victims as much as I can. Today, I sent a $1,000 check to the Chinese Consulate General in New York for Sichuan earthquake relief. At the same time, I’m also soliciting donations on this blog. For this purpose, I have put a Paypal Donate button in the sidebar. The button will remain on this site for a week, from May 15 to May 22. During this 7-day period, for every dollar received, I will make a 1:1 match for up to $100 per donation. I am not rich, but I want to help.
If you want to make a donation, $5, $10, or whatever the amount you are comfortable with, please go my site and also leave a comment at this post with the email address you use to make the Paypal donation (your email address won’t be published or shared with any third party). I will provide a daily update of donations received (if any) and at the end of the 7-day period, the money collected with my match will be sent to the Chinese Consulate General in New York.
American Red Cross also set up a China Earthquake Relief Fund to accept gifts for the earthquake relief if you are more comfortable donating through the Red Cross.
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Thank you!
*In the picture is a clock in Mianzhu, Sichuan. It stopped at 2:28 PM, May 12, 2008. That’s when the earthquake hit the city.
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Lenox: Thank you very much for your generous donation. It’s the first I received since I start the fundraising. Your generosity and kindness means a lot to the people back in China. I will match your donation!
nice effort!
I know a lot of people are donating through various ways. Western Union Foundation did a match program with donation made on MercyCorp’s website on Wednesday. Their limit of $250k was reached in just a few hours. Amazing!
Thanks for the effort!
i think giving directly to the chinese govt is perhaps the single worst way of donating considering they actively hindered outside assistance, are laborious in their relief efforts, and most of the money will be spent on its bureaucracy rather than towards those who need it.
Tim: I certainly understand what you are saying, but I have to disagree with you on what’s happening on the ground. I think the Chinese government has responded very quickly and effectively to the disaster. The prime minister was on the scene hours after the quake (we all know what Bush was doing last time when the disaster happened here) and tens of thousands rescuers were sent to the quake zone, which is close to the size of Maryland. And when the roads to the towns were destroyed, there’s no way anybody can get in faster. I have lived in the province next to Sichuan for nearly 20 years and I know what it looks like in a mountainous reign. The reason for not letting foreign rescue teams to help is China never has that tradition and China is not short of people. Did the US accept foreign assistance last time in New Orleans? I don’t recall.
China doesn’t really have non-government organizations for relief effort (if there’s one, I will donate my money to them), even the Red Cross is under the control of the government. Right now, I am going to trust the government more than anybody else in the time of disaster. If you ask me, then I will say the the central government doesn’t really need the donated money to run their bureaucracy (China has more than $1 trillion reserve, remember). The government is not short or money.
Thank you for raising awareness and keeping this in front of everyone. I’m glad you have taken on yourself to get personally involved. I appreciate your efforts greatly.