first post - information on disaster relief for myanmar and where to contribute...

Hello friends,
Welcome to the first post of ORB CARE! I really want to learn more HTML and image making programs and such so I can really dedicate my efforts towards making this site something really special.

The goal of this ORB CARE blog is to have a place where people can turn to as a hub for ORB CARE service events, for learning more about social justice issues, current events, and find links and information about organizations they can either contribute to or volunteer with for serving God's children.

But rather than go on about something in the abstract, the real reason I'm creating this blog right now is to provide information to the community about the after effects of a cyclone in Myanmar that has left at least 22,000 dead and places to donate to provide immediate relief.

THOUSANDS KILLED IN MYANMAR CYCLONE, MANY MORE DISPLACED

Information from nytimes.com -

BANGKOK — A powerful cyclone that destroyed a vast swath of coastal Myanmar and left many thousands of people dead prompted the country’s military leaders to allow some foreign aid groups to deliver relief supplies on Tuesday. But the ruling junta came under increasing pressure to further open its doors — and even relax its tight political grip — to grapple with the growing disaster.

The Myanmar government put its tally of deaths since Cyclone Nargis struck early Saturday at 22,500 and said 41,000 people were missing. Such early estimates often prove inaccurate, and the wide path of this cyclone, which destroyed homes across the fertile Irrawaddy Delta and into Yangon, the nation’s main city, left a large area of destruction, complicating rescue efforts and damage assessments for days or weeks to come...

“More deaths were caused by the tidal wave than the storm itself,” Maung Maung Swe, minister for relief and resettlement, said, in the first official description of the destruction. “The wave was up to 12 feet high, and it swept away and inundated half the houses in low-lying villages. They did not have anywhere to flee.”

A spokesman for the United Nations World Food Program said that as many as one million people might have lost their homes and that some villages were almost completely destroyed. That estimate appeared to be a rough assessment based on aerial and satellite photographs of the affected region.

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HOW TO HELP

Here is a short list of places you can contribute to. As with any contribution, be smart and responsible as to which organizations you give to -- some give direct food aid, some give medicine, some give more long-term structural relief. Some contribute to individuals, some give to other organizations already in Myanmar, some are already there. Be involved in your giving, invest some time.

But also realize that every part of the relief process counts. And remember, prayer is one the most powerful tools of relief you have!

I've tried to provide a brief summary of where your money would go. To check charities’ fund allocations or administrative costs, guidance is online at www.guidestar.org.

AMERICARES
www.americares.org
(800)-486-4357
88 Hamilton Avenue
Stamford, Conn. 06902
AmeriCares has assembled life-saving medical and other humanitarian supplies to be shipped immediately to our partners on the ground in Myanmar. AmeriCares staff are also en route to the region

AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE
www.ajws.org
(800)-889-7146
45 West 36th Street
New York, N.Y. 10018

AJWS strengthens civil society post disaster by providing direct support to community-based agencies enabling them to participate and lead a relief-to-reconstruction-to-development process. The Rapid Relief Fund enables AJWS to respond immediately to emergency situations.

CARE
www.care.org
1-800-521-CARE (1-800-521-2273)
151 Ellis Street
Atlanta, Ga. 30303

CARE will be working with the UN and Myanmar government authorities to assess the destruction from Tropical Cyclone Nargis, and is prepared to respond with immediate aid.

CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES
www.crs.org
(877)-435-7277
Southeast Asia Natural Disaster
P.O. Box 17090
Baltimore, Md. 21203-7090

CARE has been working in Myanmar for more than 14 years, with nearly 500 staff engaged in projects in 120 townships.

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS/RED CRESCENT
www.ifrc.org
(011) 41-22-730-4222
P.O. Box 372
CH-1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland

The International Federation directs and coordinates international assistance to some of the world's most vulnerable people. Together with Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, the Federation acts locally to respond to humanitarian challenges everywhere, everyday.

INTERNATIONAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHARITIES
www.iocc.org
(877) 803-4622
P.O. Box 630225
Baltimore, Md. 21263-0225

IOCC will provide cash support to its ecumenical partners toward emergency relief supplies for the survivors in Myanmar, as well as issuing an Emergency Appeal for the crisis.

SAVE THE CHILDREN
www.savethechildren.org
(800)-728-3843
Myanmar Cyclone Response
54 Wilton Road
Westport, Conn. 06880

Save the Children is responding to the needs of hundreds of thousands of children and families affected by Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. Their immediate needs are for food and nonfood items, including clean water and shelter. Like millions of children and families affected by emergencies all over the world, their long-term needs are to recover from the crisis, restore normalcy and rebuild their lives.

U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES
www.unhcr.org
www.usaforunhcr.org (for U.S. residents)
(202)-296-1115 or (800)-770-1100
USA for UNHCR
1775 K St., NW
Suite 290
Washington, D.C. 20006

Plastic sheeting and tents – sufficient for 10,000 people – will be sent to Yangon from Thailand by the fastest available means as a first response to aid the tens of thousands of people who have lost their homes.

U.S. FUND FOR UNICEF
www.unicefcusa.org
1-800-4-UNICEF
125 Maiden Lane
New York, N.Y. 10038

WORLD FOOD PROGRAM
www.wfp.org
(866) 929-1694
Friends of the World Food Program
1819 L Street, NW
Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20036

WFP has taken initial steps to make emergency funding, disaster relief supplies and food stocks from across the Asia region available for use in responding to Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. In the coming days, WFP will plan for and launch a larger emergency operation covering greater humanitarian needs as determined with the completion of ongoing rapid field assessments and reflecting the views of the Government of Myanmar..

WORLD VISION
www.worldvision.org
1-888-56-CHILD (1-888-56-24453)
P.O. Box 9716
Federal Way, Wash. 98063-9716

Each gift of $100 will provide a Family Survival Kit, containing things like:

• Emergency food
• Clean water
• Blankets and temporary shelter
• Cooksets