Wiki Profile - China Earthquake Relief Fund

Posted by Kevin on May 26th, 2008 comments 1 Comment

On May 12, 2008, a 7.9 earthquake shattered the Sichuan Provence in China. It was the largest earthquake to hit China in over 30 years. The natural disaster left horrific devastation in its wake: towns have been ravaged, the death toll counts more than 50,000 people, well over a quarter-million are injured, and nearly 5 million Chinese citizens are now homeless.

China Earthquake Relief Fund

What’s being done to help? Immediate relief is well-funded (both internationally and by the Chinese government) however,many Chinese immigrants in the United States are concerned about what will happen after these rescue resources are gone. Two members of the Chinese community, Berlin Fan and Shuhua Chan, decided to take action into their own hands.

Fang, of Oklahoma Christian University and Chan, of Marshall University in West Virginia, have already begun a fund-raising to rebuild a school in the affected Provence. With a fund-raising goal of $50,000, they have already raised almost $1,000 in just a few days.

While fund-raising, Fang cited many local Chinese communities’ disillusionment over donations to bigger charities going mostly towards overhead and management rather than directly to the plight. He noted the communities would rather give funds to trusted members to ensure that their donations go where they are needed most. Using their connections within the community and their wiki, Fang and Chan have been actively reaching out to friends in communities across the U.S. to become local coordinators to aid in the fund-raising effort.

Join the wiki and find out all the ways you can help by visiting earthquakechildren.wetpaint.com

Keyword Tags: Web 2.0, User Experience, Collaboration, User Generated Content, Wikis, General, Wetpaint

Comments

Interesting information about Chinese culture. I have talked to some of my Chinese friends, and they don’t necessarily share the same mistrust of large non-profits. However, I admire the efforts of these women - they’re certainly going to make a big difference!! I look forward to hearing about what non-profit in China they do choose to work with.

Best of luck!

By Casey @ OYFP on May 27th, 2008 at 5:41 am

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