Helping Tsunami Survivors

This is from the Arizona Ecumenical Council.
Money is needed, not goods...

Dear Friends,

One of the Arizona Ecumenical Council Bishops reminded us "Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 'Avoice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more'." (Matthew 2:17-18)

A poignant scene in the Broadway classic Les Miserables has the hero sing, "There is a grief that can't be spoken." What does it mean that many more than 1.5 million people are suddenly without their homes? What does it mean that over 40,000 are known dead and that there will never probably be an accurate count? Whole fishing villages are simply wiped from the face of the earth.

The Lord Jesus always meets us in the person who is poor, homeless, hungry, and naked. He is calling to us from southeast Asia in these days. Please be generous in helping with disaster efforts by taking part in special offerings at your church, through your synods or judicatories, the Red Cross, Church World Service and other legitimate donation opportunities. At this time only financial aid is needed for immediate assistance. There is no place to store donated goods or any way for delivery of these items.

If you have any questions, please contact the Arizona Ecumenical Council, 602-468-3818. We will also accept donations to be forwarded to legitimate relief agencies.

what happened to this site?

Remember last night, Sherry, all the discussion about revamping and losing comments? Well, seems we lost a few days and site to "under development," I guess.

I like to give to www.Oxfam.org for all crises. May seem unnecessary to add more, but they use money efficiently.

Testing the site migration. Hang on everyone!

Good luck!

I received this email today, and I know the man who sent it is a good man. I was encouraged by the costs looking effective. I cannot vouch for the organization, but know the man who sent the email is very trustworthy.

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When you have a passion for helping the needy as we do, opportunities present themselves and we must be obedient to respond. We have participated in delivering food this past year to a Children's Home in Sri Lanka. Now, there is a greater need than ever. Will you review the following and help us assist in this relief?

You are probably aware of the death and destruction created by the tsunami as it hit the shorelines of several countries last week. Tens of thousands are dead and millions are displaced from their homes. The island of Sri Lanka was the hardest hit. Homeless and hungry people are the result. The need is not quantified at this time and help is on the way from all over the world. There is an immediate and urgent need now and that is what we are addressing.

But God provides! Nourish the Children, nourishthechildren.com, is providing Vitameals, danderson11.myntcusa.com, through Feed the Children. We have seven 747’s ready to load. First deliveries will be made in Sri Lanka and then on to the other countries.

A bag only costs $30. In addition, Nourish the Children is offering another bag of food supply for only $10 extra. One bag of food will feed 30 children or 15 adults healthy, nutritious meals. All contributions go directly for the food supplies. The company will pay shipping and handling expenses.

Donations increments of: $40 feeds 60 children and 30 adults.
$120 feeds 180 children and 90 adults.
$400 feeds 600 children and 300 adults.
$4,000 feeds 6,000 children and 3,000 adults.

To participate:

By check: Payable to Nourish the Children/Don Anderson
and mailed to: Don Anderson
2517 Ft. Worth Dr.
Denton, TX 76205

OR

By credit card: Contact us by phone: 940-383-0280
by fax: 940-484-0002
by email: anderson18@charter.net

We must act quickly as there are hungry, hurting people waiting right now. Please contact us with your desire to help.

Please feel free to forward this to your contact lists.

Be blessed and be a blessing to others,
Don and Anita Anderson
940-383-0280
anderson18@charter.net

PS: We also have contacts who are currently working in Sri Lanka to provide for the needs of the smallest victims of this tragedy. Shepherd’s Heart Children’s Home, run by Woody and Melanie Blok, in Colombo, Sri Lanka are looking to immediately expand their children's home to accommodate up to 40 children whose parents have been lost or whose families need short term care while they work to rebuild their lives. The budget for this expansion is $5,000.

Checks may be made out to:
Oasis Communities International
P.O. Box 794843
Dallas, TX 75379

Man, when you look at the costs vs. the number of people it will feed, then consider the number of people affected, it really puts it into perspective, doesn't it? I am sure though that
many, many people will respond to the needs of those afflicted through various organizations.
Makes you shudder to think of the devastation and the length of time it will take to rebuild and rehabilitate. This is such a large catastrophe it is very difficult to comprehend.

This is a long article obviously Arizona biased but with a long list of charitable organizations at the bottom.

8 AM Arizona time, Thursday, December 30, 2004

Over 120,000 confirmed dead in Southeast Asia

1,250,000 confirmed displaced or homeless

5,000,000 without basic necessities

$14 billion in damages

The Center for International Disaster Information explains:

“Financial contributions allow professional relief organizations to purchase exactly what is most urgently needed by disaster victims and to pay for the transportation necessary to distribute those supplies. Unlike in-kind donations, cash donations entail no transportation cost. In addition, cash donations allow relief supplies to be purchased at locations as near to the disaster site as possible. Supplies, particularly food, can almost always be purchased locally - even in famine situations. This approach has the triple advantage of stimulating local economies (providing employment, generating cash flow), ensuring that supplies arrive as quickly as possible and reducing transport and storage costs. Cash contributions to established legitimate relief agencies are always considerably more beneficial than the donation of commodities.”

For more information on the subjects listed below, please go to http://www.cidi.org/donate.htm.

Monetary Contributions to Established Relief Agencies are Always the Most Useful Response to Disasters.
Confirm There is a Need for All Items Being Collected.
Deliver Items Only to Organizations having Local Distribution Capacity
Donate Only to Organizations having the Ability to Transport Collected Items to the Affected Region
Never Assume the U.S. Government or any Relief Agency Will Transport Unsolicited Relief Items Free of Charge
Volunteer Opportunities for Disaster Relief are Extremely Limited

Locally, you may donate financial aid to the Arizona Ecumenical Council, 4423 N. 24th St., Ste. 750, Phoenix, AZ 85016.

You may also donate to WHEAT (World Hunger Ecumenical Action Taskforce) for distribution to aid agencies. In addition, on Tuesday, January 4 from 10 am to 2 pm, WHEAT’s Hand to Hand Project, a fair trade program of WHEAT, an anti-hunger organization located at 111 E. Camelback Road, will donate ALL of their sales to the Church World Service Southern Asian Earthquake-Tidal Wave Emergency Fund and to the United Nations World Food Programme Rapid Response Fund. Artisans of the items sold live in 11 of the affected countries. Purchasing their wares will supply needed financial aid to the disaster response as well as to the artisans who are provide food, shelter and education for their families through the sale of these quality handmade items. For more information about this sale, please contact WHEAT at 602-955-5076 or visit www.HungerHurts.org.

The goal of the Church World Service Emergency Response Program is assuring vulnerable persons and communities, in the aftermath of natural and human caused disaster, will achieve long-term physical, psychological and spiritual recovery and acquire sustainable forms of preparedness. The United Nations World Food Programme Rapid Response Fund teams identify the fastest route to a hunger hotspot. If bridges and roads are out, they rebuild them immediately. Where air transport cannot land, they prepare for airdrops. They rehabilitate ports and railways. When communications are down, they provide low cost but efficient telecom links with the outside world. Onece the supply line and communications are secure, they bring in emergency food supplies.

(CNN) -- International aid organizations are accepting donations to help victims of the powerful earthquake and resulting tsunamis that caused widespread destruction in parts of Asia and Africa. The groups include:

AmeriCares

Action Against Hunger

ADRA International

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Inc.

Association for India's Development

CARE

Catholic Relief Services

Christian Children's Fund

Church World Service

Direct Relief International

Doctors Without Borders

Food for the Hungry, Inc.

International Aid

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

International Medical Corps

International Rescue Committee

Lutheran World Relief

MAP International

Mercy Corps

Network for Good

Operation USA

Oxfam America

Plan USA

Project Concern International

Save the Children USA

UNICEF

U.N. World Food Programme

World Concern

The links for the above never made it...
Send me an email and I'll send the origional message which contains links..

bobC