Tsunami victims need our help
December 29, 2004 -- Nurses seeing the devastation following the tsunamis that struck Asia on Dec. 26 may yearn to help. Below are resources to help all of us do our part.
Encourage wealthy nations to donate more
Though few outside the affected areas may be able to provide hands-on care to the victims, we can all make donations to groups that employ health care and aid workers who (like the nurses at right) are helping those in need. Below is a list of organizations collecting donations to help the victims. We urge you to donate generously and often to these groups, which also work to address ongoing humanitarian problems that may cause even greater long-term harm in developing nations, including diseases such as HIV, malaria and diarrhea.
OXFAM AMERICA
26 West Street
Boston, MA 02111
www.oxfamamerica.org
SAVE THE CHILDREN
54 Wilton Road
Westport, Conn. 06880
www.savethechildren.org
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
CARE
151 Ellis Street
Atlanta, GA 30303
www.care.org
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS/RED CRESCENT
www.ifrc.org
UNICEF
General Emergency Fund
333 E. 38th Street
New York, NY 10016
www.unicef.org
UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR)
UN WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME
US Friends of the WFP
PO Box 11856
Washington, DC 20008
www.wfp.org/donate
INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS
1919 Santa Monica Boulevard
Suite 300
Santa Monica, CA 90404
www.imcworldwide.org
Use our flyer to help raise money in your neighborhood for the tsunami victims.
The Center staff has been campaigning for the tsunami victims in our spare time and personal capacity, and we have raised $14,000 in 2 weeks by going door-to-door with 700 flyers. We offered donors food gifts for their generosity (a cookie for every $25 donation). It put the focus on the donation instead of the food, and most donors declined the gifts anyway. Please join us by raising money in your neighborhood, to help the tsunami fundraising effort. You can adapt our flyer for your situation and the gifts you are willing to give your neighbors. Get the flyer in pdf, Clarisworks or different format, just ask us.
Project Hope needs RN volunteers
Read the recommendations on how to help from the International Council of Nurses
Learn more about disaster preparedness
Encourage wealthy nations to donate more
We are pleased to join the International Council of Nurses in asking wealthy countries to increase their donations to the tsunami victims. Why should wealthy governments be generous? Because it takes money to mount a serious recovery effort and save people from dehydration, disease and starvation.
The US government's $350 million pledge equals $1.22 per citizen. Yes, it's a big increase over the initial 5 cents per person ($15 million) pledge, but it still pales in comparison to Australia's pledge of $38.25 per citizen for instance. See a New York Times op-ed regarding how insufficient the US donation is to the disaster relief effort and foreign aid in general.
February 3, 2005 -- Oxfam America and Care would like our support for their letter-writing campaigns to increase US government financial support to the tsunami victims. Please join the Oxfam and Care campaigns. Thank you.
Please send us links to any other campaigns so we can encourage other wealthy nations to donate more. We salute Australia for setting a high standard.
Thanks to everyone for the work you are doing or have done to help these victims, and all affected by poverty and illness, find better and healthier lives.
Educate the world that nurses save lives!
