China earthquake, 20k+ dead. Please help

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 6:59 pm

The China earthquake has been widely reported so I won't reiterate the details. At 20,000 dead and 80,000 missing, there are a lot of trapped people that needs help, and families affected. Myanmar's cyclone seems even worse, and even more unfortunately, most of foreign aid to Myanmar is blocked. There are indeed many tragedies happening, many of which is just another newsflash. But I hope you do take the time and read the reports and images from around the Web o these events to appreciate the devastation and magnitude of how many people are affected.

For a little perspective in death tolls, both are about 10 times worse than either 9/11 or Katrina.

For relief aid in China, ways to you can donate and help:
1. Mercycorps: http://www.mercycorps.org/chinaearthquake/
2. America Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/news/in/profiles/Intl_profile_ChinaEarthquake.html
3. International Federation of Red Cross: http://www.ifrc.org/what/disasters/response/sichuan-earthquake/index.asp
4. Canada red cross: please make sure donate to China-earthquake. https://www.paypaq.com/redcross/new/index.php
5. Americares: http://www.americares.org/
6. Salvation Army: http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/E55A96AA0EFEA3EF8525744A006AF141

All donations to isoHunt from May 12 to June 12 will be sent to the above charities for the China earthquake relief (which is an option if you don't have credit card to donate directly to the above but do have Paypal for donating to isoHunt). If you donate after reading this, feel free to reply under this thread and encourage others to do the same. If you blog, write about it!

UPDATE (June 4): I figured waiting for June 12 to send the funds is too long, and instead sent donations we received from April 1 to May 31 instead, compensated by an extra month of donations received before the disasters. That came out to be $2798.41 USD, donated to the Salvation Army. I still don't see Burma loosening up acceptance of foreign aid, so I designated the funds for the China earthquake. To all who donated, whether through us or directly to the above charities, thanks! Disaster don't care about politics or nationality, and your donation shows that.

Update 2: FYI, as posted here, the The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is matching donations made by individual Canadians to qualified charities. I donated $2800 as Canadian so that qualifed. To all Canadians, a good fact to know. Other countries probably has similar donation matching as well, google it and check.

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 7:29 pm

I just wanted to say, you can also donate money to The Salvation Army who has been helping out in all of these areas since the moment it hit. The Salvation Army not only sends aid from other countries but gets help from the churches based in the communities.

These are all great options for helping out the sick and dying.

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 7:49 pm

I have been following this story...so much tragedy in the news this last few weeks. My prayers are with the people/families whose lives are affected by this. I really wish that there was an alternate way to donate as I do not use credit cards since my divorce and would love to help. IH..if there is another way..let us all know. Jo

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 7:55 pm

IH wrote:

All donations to isoHunt from May 12 to June 12 will be sent to the above charities for the China earthquake relief.

How often do you get to see a truly selfless act such as this? IH, I have the utmost respect for you and this site and all who participate in making it what it is. Thank you for renewing my faith in humanity. You're an inspiration.

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 7:58 pm

IH, it warms my heart to see the donations... but it's so aggravating that the support we are sending is being withheld or quarantined. I'll try to spare some money when I have it to spare...

Tragic as it is, affecting as most natural disasters seem to do, a poor area, I think it is not out of question or off topic to say this should serve as a rude awakening that we are experiencing the early stages of a global climate change, and may possibly experience not only landmass migration, but also several major sections of land that have always been that way for as long as recorded human history may (in all possibility) be totally submerged by the end of this decade or early on in the next (san andreas rift a most notable instance of said situation).

Our world is changing... fast. And we are obviously not ready and ill prepared for it. Hate to be bearer of bad news and so disheartening given this tragic incident, but it's true and it needs to be said more often. Negligence (such as keeping stuff like this quiet) out of respect for the dead and affected is worse than blaspheming the dead by stating things such as this; by not shining light on the subject, you deliberately allow the same situation to occur again. Just a thought...

It is awful that I must say such a thing, but with all the proof I've seen lately, I am scared... as much as disheartened... at what is going on in our world.

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 8:07 pm

Just donated $50.00. Wish I could spare more. Thanks for providing a reminder and a link to all those sites! It motivated me to do something about the horrible situation in China right now.

Really a shame about Myanmar, though. Those poor people have certainly suffered enough without having to deal with an earthquake, also.

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 8:32 pm

Seems the Junta in Myanmar is witholding a considerable amount of the relief provided for for the victims for themselves.

I sent an SMS to a buddy who lives in Wuhan (supposedly the epicenter of the quake) to hear if he was ok. His reply was: "What quake?". Go figure.

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 8:33 pm

I think it's a great way for Isohunt and all it's followers to contribute to the disaster fund. I for one trust Isohunt and have donated $50 where I might not have done, had The lads at Isohunt not brought it right to my door.
Top marks to you guys, I hope the rest of Australia follow suit.[/quote]

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 8:43 pm

xalky wrote:

I think it's a great way for Isohunt and all it's followers to contribute to the disaster fund. I for one trust Isohunt and have donated $50 where I might not have done, had The lads at Isohunt not brought it right to my door.
Top marks to you guys, I hope the rest of Australia follow suit.

[/quote]

This site could use a few more users like you......a big +1 to you and I would give you more if I could. Nice to meet you. Jo (the one wishing I had a paypal account). God bless you.

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 9:11 pm

jojoplin2003 wrote:

xalky wrote:

I think it's a great way for Isohunt and all it's followers to contribute to the disaster fund. I for one trust Isohunt and have donated $50 where I might not have done, had The lads at Isohunt not brought it right to my door.
Top marks to you guys, I hope the rest of Australia follow suit.

This site could use a few more users like you......a big +1 to you and I would give you more if I could. Nice to meet you. Jo (the one wishing I had a paypal account). God bless you.[/quote]

Yeah... I will definately donate soon, I've been wanting to for a long time to IH, but now that there is a charity for such a just cause, I'll have to. I haven't got my first paycheck yet, but I'll set a generous portion aside to make a contribution... only thing I can really do aside from going there (hoping to not get shot by the local "authority") and lending a hand...

I agree... damn it's always the sections of the world that are the poorest and have the most complications that mother nature unleashes her fury on...

Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 9:46 pm

Thanks IH...will be donation $50.00 Canadian to the Red Cross on behalf of this cause in the morning. Thanks for doing this. JO

Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 12:55 am

I just subscribed for the first time. 1 months worth. Not much but I'm kinda between jobs. Hope that helps a little.

"I don't know if smoothies are good for you."
-- Todd Barry, on the nutritional value of smoothies

Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 1:52 am

=o
I live in alberta and have not seen this reported on the news or radio..
ty isohunt once again i suppose.. I bow before you, whom give to those in need.

Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 3:14 am

tiger2007 wrote:

Seems the Junta in Myanmar is witholding a considerable amount of the relief provided for for the victims for themselves.

I sent an SMS to a buddy who lives in Wuhan (supposedly the epicenter of the quake) to hear if he was ok. His reply was: "What quake?". Go figure.

The earthquake was nowhere near Wuhan, Hubei. It was in WenChuan, Sichuan. It's about the same distance as Phoenix is to Memphis. However, the earthquake was almost certainly felt in Wuhan as it registered a 4.5-5.0 quake in JiangXi provence, a little farther down the Yangtze River. That's really incredible your friend didn't feel that! It even shook buildings here where I live in Nanjing (more than twice the distance from Wuhan) and most of the downtown area's buildings had to be evacuated.

Anyway, thank you IH for the donations. That's incredibly kick ass of you to do this, and I'm very glad that this is getting the attention it deserves in the West. The state media (who is being incredibly open about all of this, which is indeed, a bit surprising) has said that the death toll will likely reach 50,000. There's so much infrastructure damage that it's really hard to get rescue teams or aid teams anywhere near it. Every little bit helps, and the sites that you listed above are the sites that major media and the Chinese government have recommended to send donations too-- which is important to note, especially given the atrocities that are happening in neighboring Myanmar right now.

Thanks again, IH, isohunt as always been my favorite torrent site, but this just goes above and beyond.

Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 7:17 am

IH wrote:

All donations to isoHunt from May 12 to June 12 will be sent to the above charities

Got bless you IH! I'm missing a friend, Lilan & her 4 year old son, from Mianyang and am, like thousands of others, terribly worried. I even put a post in the forums here looking for her on the very, very remote chance that someone from her area used isohunt.

My heartfelt thanks for this trully selfless act!

[Edit] I'm knid of old fashioned when it comes to collective responsibility and so, i tithe 10%+ of my earnings on a mnothly basis. I know where it will be going for the forseeable future although how i wish it was not so needed.