Donations taken for earthquake victims

A few local agencies geared up to collect donations for earthquake victims in China as the death toll from the tremor topped 12,000 Tuesday.

A 7.9 quake rocked China’s Sichuan Province Monday — the deadliest tremor to hit the country in three decades, according to The Associated Press. The disaster toppled buildings, caused landslides and blocked roads across the region.

Most local groups are opting to collect money for national and international agencies to help earthquake victims rather than creating their own fundraising drives, said Eileen Tao, secretary for the Orange County chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans.

“Many people have been sending me e-mails saying, ‘Hey, if there are donations going around, we would like to help,’” Tao said. “But we want to make sure the fundraising is going to proper channels and getting to the people at the epicenter of the earthquake.”

Tao said her group is directing people to send their charitable donations to the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles and both the American and Chinese arms of the International Red Cross.

Linda Short, secretary of Harbor Christian Church in Newport Beach, said the church is collecting funds for disaster relief efforts through the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

The denomination has organized national fundraising drives for both cyclone victims in Myanmar and earthquake victims in China through its Week of Compassion campaign.

“The reason we like doing it this way is that we don’t have a lot of the overhead a lot of other groups do,” Short said.

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has teamed up with a few faith-based nonprofit groups that are providing aid to China in the aftermath of the earthquake, according to its website.

HOW TO HELP

 Donate to the American Red Cross International Response Fund:

(800) HELP NOW or (800) 257-7575 (Spanish) or visit www.redcross.org. Designated gifts should be marked for the AP 2060 China Relief Fund

 Donate to the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Los Angeles: losangeles.china-consulate.org/or call (213) 807-8088.

 Donate to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Week of Compassion Campaign:

www.weekofcompassion.org/ or P.O. Box 1986 Indianapolis, IN 46206. Note on donations that funds are for China relief efforts.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].