Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Hard Work Ahead for Boston-Aid-Sichuan

Newton, MA – In the wake of Sichuan's catastrophic earthquake last Monday, 85 Chinese organizations in the Boston area jointly set up an interim "Boston-Aid-Sichuan Committee" last Wednesday to coordinate relief activities. As reported here, the committee's first meeting set the goal to raise a million dollars in a month. Within five days, by Monday night, the member organizations have collected $170,000.

"It is still far away from our goal," the committee's elected convener Jiang Hong says. "We must work harder."

Jiang Hong says she is heartened by Beijing people's successful relief fundraising. Xinhua.net has reported that CCTV's benefit performance on Sunday night raised over two hundred million dollars, "the largest relief fundraiser in history." Internationally acclaimed film director Zhang Yimou donated $15,000.

Working toward the goal they have set, a member organization of Boston-Aid-Sichuan, the MIT Chinese Students and Scholars Association, will hold a benefit concert, to be performed at MIT on Sunday, May 25.

Another member organization, the Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association, is planning a three-mile walk around Boston Common on Saturday, May 31 from 10am to 2pm. A $10 registration fee, which includes a T-shirt, and a minimal $25 donation are required for each adult participant.

For information on relief donations in general, contact Jiang Hong (蒋红): jiang_hong91@hotmail.com

2 comments:

Matthew said...

It's always good to hear about people helping out. News here has been really good about reporting on foreign donations, but there isn't much recognition for smaller organizations that I've seen (I could be wrong, maybe I just didn't see it). We did our small part by donating quite a bit of clothing through my wife's office. Just hope it gets to Sichuan soon.

Xujun said...

Hi Matthew,

Thank you very very much for your effort in helping out. If you'd like to write a bit about individuals and small organizations around you and what they are doing, I'd love to post it on this blog for all to see. Send me a note through the "Contact" link and I'll email you back.

Thanks again,

Xujun