Emergency Appeal for China - Updated

The International Red Cross has issued an updated appeal for help for the Sichuan Earthquake. The emergency appeal seeks 92.7 million USD to assist around 100,000 families (up to 500,000 people) affected by the earthquake for 36 months.

Just to give an idea of the scale of this disaster, as of 27 May, 68,109 people had been left dead, 364,552 injured, 20,790 missing and 15 million displaced of which five million are homeless. Five million homeless. Wow.

The massive earthquake also spawned the formation of 34 "quake" lakes, formed by rivers blocked by landslides. Water levels are rising, rains are coming, and an additional 1.3 million people in these areas are now threatened by floods.

The IFRC has issued a report, which is about 15 pages long, includes photos, the budget, and various other facets of the recovery plan.

Give while you can. Donations can be channeled through your national Red Cross societies. Click here to donate through the American Red Cross.

Helping China's Earthquake Victims

I got an email yesterday with a bank account number, informing me I could "wire transfer" funds to the account to help the China earthquake victims. The email was from someone I know, but I'm always suspicious of an email that gives instructions on wire transfer of funds, even if the email doesn't begin with, "ATTN: Dearest One of God..."

I wrote to one of my buddies who is an executive with the American Red Cross, and here is his response, with guidance on how to donate.

Like you, I’m always a bit suspicious of anyone who tells me to “wire the funds” As you can see from news reports, the RCSC [Red Cross Society of China] has collected over a ½ billion USD’s thus far and fundraising hasn’t really started yet. American Red Cross had such a huge surge of donations for China that they’re not asking for, or establishing a campaign to raise money.

The complexities of these relief operations are staggering. Global interest peaks for about 3 weeks, and then the disaster is relegated to just another terrible tragedy. The readiness capability of each Red Cross Society often reveals itself when a huge event like this occurs. China is in relatively good shape with a strong Red Cross infrastructure and literally millions of volunteers. They consistently operate within Sphere, IFRC [International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies] and WHO standards. The Burma Red Cross is less fortunate having to operate under military rule and limited access to outside resources.

Personally I would give to the IFRC directly. They can then push the funds to China in a manner that makes sense. One advantage of giving to the American Red Cross is that the donation would be tax deductible. I don’t think the IRS provides this benefit to a donation made directly to China or through the IFRC.