the chinese red cross site was down when I tried to donate. I went with the Hongkong red cross instead.
I HOPE most of buried victims will STICK it out as long they can without food and water. I can't fathom being buried under the debris, much alone being stuck in an elevator.
Update. Death toll have reached 14866. Chinese Premier flew into the epicenter on helicopter to take first hand survey of the situation. He is directly in charge of the rescue efforts. 3000 additional PLA troops are being mobilized in the resuce effort, bring a total of military and police force to 100,000. The Chinese Defense Department are sending additional 100 transporter helicopters for the rescue mission. Here are some pictures
I'd be wary about American Red Cross, a not-for-profit, charitable organization that pays its CEO $650K a year, and was repeatedly ripped by both Republican and Democratic members of the Congress for its troubled operations in events such as 9/11 and Katrina. I agree with ty185, Red Cross Hong Kong is currently one of the best alternatives to Red Cross China if you are donating online.
I am planning to donate online but don't want to get ripped off by wrong sites. Is this where you went? http://www.redcross.org.hk/home.cfm?langId=1&Ver=G
Yes, that's the site. Here is a direct link to donation: https://www.redcross.org.hk/donation/user_donation.asp On this site, you can specify the donation to the "China Earthquake 2008". It takes credit cards as I've used.
according to internet news, one of the USA disaster reliefing team has arrived the region. I have not been able to verify this news through traditional news outlets yet, and details of their rescuing mission are unknown. but I felt that this is a significant news for everyone praying for all the victims lately and worth relaying as soon as possible. I'm hoping this report will be confirmed by some more substantiated sources shortly.
<div><object id="ssss" width="480" height="370" > <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /> <embed pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" src="http://vhead.blog.sina.com.cn/player/outer_player.swf?auto=0&vid=13464433&uid=1365354450" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="ssss" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="480" height="370"></embed></object></div> Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met a group of American volunteers in quake-hit area in Sichuan. He thanked American people and U.S. government for their help on behalf of Chinese government.
Donating to Red Cross Hong Kong is certainly more effective. Though don't dis the American Red Cross like you just did. They have their troubles but they'd still be there when disaster strikes.
Update: 14,866 confirmed dead, 7,841 missing, 25,788 still under the rubble, 64,746 badly injured. in wenchuan county, 8 towns had completely vanished from the earth.
Sorry, the American Red Cross has tarnished its reputation with its own doings in recent years. I am not making slanderous accusation in any way, shape, or form. It's a fact that a large portion of the hundreds of millions of dollars donated to ARC went not to survivors or family members of those killed in 9/11 tragedy, but to other ARC operations, a tactic known as "bait-and-switch." The public outrage prompted a bipartisan Congressional hearing, calling for ARC to change its way of handling donors' money. ARC's the President and CEO Dr. Bernadine Healy resigned as a result. It's a fact that in the aftermath of Katrina a wide range of improprieties surfaced again in ARC's disaster relief operation, forcing ARC's then CEO Marsha J. Evans to spend more time with her family. It's a fact that counting the interim leaders, ARC has had 6 different presidents in the last 7 years -- the last president Mark Everson was asked by ARC's 50-member Board of Directors to resign on November 27, 2007, immediately following a revelation that Everson, married with two children, was having an affair with a staff member. One issue after another, ARC in recent years has become a semi-dysfunctional organization. If it couldn't be counted on to serve the American people in most reliable, efficient, and altruistic way, how can one expect ARC to handle properly international affair? I am not suggesting ARC is a scandalous organization that should be jettisoned outright, but until it shows it has gotten its acts together, potential contributors may want to think if it's more sensible to donate their hard-earned money to other more worthy charitable organizations in times of crisis. Cheetah, this is not a Chinese-vs-American thing. Not knowing all the troubled details about ARC, in September 2005 I drove to the ARC branch in my area and donated hundreds of dollars for the Katrina relief effort.
So I'm reading many articles about how inadequate the buildings were in Sichuan, due to rapid development, where seismic codes were ignored for whatever reason (cost, etc), or older buildings that did not meet seismic code were never upgraded... What about California? How safe are their buildings? Is there a California disaster also waiting to happen due to similar forces of rapid development and expediency, where seismic codes are out of date/inadequate, ignored, or some combination thereof?
There would be a lot of bad stuff if a 7.9 hit LA or San Fran. Buildings are made with earthquakes in mind, but it'd be too much. The silver lining from this horrible disaster is that China can rebuild anew with more energy into design and future contingencies. Kinda like the Chicago fire or the earthquakes that hit California in the past.
