Intrepid Travel Will Match Your Donations!

skell

Intrepid Travel is launching an appeal in the wake of the destructive earthquake and tsunami in Asia. Our appeal will support the work of our long time partners in the affected areas, Medecins Sans Frontiers and PLAN. Funds will be split equally between the extremely valuable projects of these two organisations, as their ability to provide hands-on support at grass roots level is exceptional.

Intrepid will match all donations dollar for dollar (for the first AU$50,000 received) to The Intrepid Foundation, and we will pay all Foundation administration costs.

Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders), has mobilised assessment teams in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and India as well as other affected countries, to determine immediate medical and relief needs. Funds raised will help Medicins Sans Frontiers assess areas where populations are most vulnerable and in greatest need of immediate medical help. The teams will then establish a base of operation to support local health structures or set up clinics from which to provide medical care. The teams will also establish water sanitation facilities and nutritional clinics where necessary.

Medecins Sans Frontiers' biggest challenge is to provide clean drinking water and contain the disease and epidemics, which inevitably result from a catastrophe of these proportions. More information on their work can be found on the Medecins Sans Frontiers website

PLAN is part of a major disaster-response program in Sri Lanka, the worst affected country. Thousands of people are dead - many of them children. More than one million people have also been left homeless. Funds raised will be used to support both short and long-term emergency relief and rehabilitation, including much needed food, clothing, housing and fresh water. Once the more immediate needs are met, PLAN's focus will move to restoration of family livelihood.

PLAN is an international child centred community development organisation that has no religious or political affiliations and operates in over 60 countries. Please visit the PLAN website for more details fo their programmes.

Donations can be made through the Intrepid Foundation by downloading a donation form and writing 'Asian Tsunami Appeal' on the form.

Unfortunately we did not have the opportunity to announce the appeal in Express this week, so we hope an additional email is not an inconvenience under the circumstances, as many Express readers have expressed a desire to be able to help provide much needed financial assistance.

It's desperately hard to comprehend the images and stories being relayed across the world, of the destruction and personal tragedy resulting from the tsunamis in the Indian Ocean. Our hearts go out to the hundreds of thousands of people affected and we appreciate your support in delivering aid to those in need.

Thank-you

Darrell Wade,
CEO Intrepid Travel


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firstlady

Hi Darrell,
I've already made my money donations, but on Wed. I'll be flying out to Goa, a world away I know from the disaster, but is there anything I can take with me to forward from there that would be useful? I guess most medicines would need refrigeration on the trip..what about clothes? and if so where would I forward it to?

Alan D

I think, without a doubt, that you will find that Indonesia, the centre of the quake, is the worst affected country, not Sri Lanka. Possibly ten times worse!

firstlady

Hi Alan D,
Ok so he got his figures slightly wrong.... he's doing something for someone, what are you doing apart from critisising him? and by the way did I spell that right? I'm sure you'll let me know.

Alan D

Hi firstlady!

Slightly wrong!! He got it totally wrong!!

Indonesia is the epicentre of this total disaster and I am surprised that anyone who is involved in the relief work can say that Sri Lanka is the worst affected country.

I don't feel I have to account to you about my donation to the relief fund.

And by the way, we don't worry too much about spelling at indiamike.com.

bijapuri

initial reports did indeed point to Sri Lanka as the worst hit.

__________________
Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.
Barack Obama

lookit me!!!: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bijapuri/

Utube fuzzy logic:
http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=bijapuri&p =r

Alan D

With respect bijapuri, that was three or four days ago. It has become apparent that Indonesia has suffered much more than any other country - so badly that they have stopped counting the bodies!

In my opinion the main disaster relief effort should be concentrated in Indonesia.

Dayglowhamster

I looked at this because it mentioned well known charities and they were matching $ for $. I saved half of what's earmarked for donation to see if one of these came up, it just seemed to make sense if I could to try and double the amount of some of what I could give.

I looked at the site and the download form - you have to make cheques payable to Intrepid. Maybe I'm just being over cautious but I can't see how we can be sure where the money is going. The worst part of me thinks anyone can make a website, they seem to be an established group but as I hadn't heard of them prior to this and that they seem to think SL was worst effected, I'm not sure - or should I say not certain enough.

Have others heard of this group? Also their charity form says it can't be used against tax (not an issue for me but it made me wonder).

If I can double some money out I'll go for it, but I would have prefered a local business or something less 'virtual'. Am I just being totally paranoid?

Sorry if this is really stupid either way - I only want more money to go.

__________________
Mine's not as clever as yours!

Dayglowhamster

But wouldn't MSF in part allow for that?

To be honest with the figures the way they are I just want more money to go to the effected areas if it can. I'm leaving the charities to do the assessing.

wonderwomanusa

>>Maybe I'm just being over cautious but I can't see how we can be sure where the money is going.<<

Not at all; at times like these, it's wise to be cautious. Today's San Francisco Chronicle ran an article about the possible NON-charities; the article is, of course, directed to Californians, but the advice is good:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...&type=business

Alan D

Dayglowhamster


Well yes, I think (I hope) the main relief organisations will work out the priorities and shift the funds where it is most needed, which is why we have contributed directly to a mainstream charity (Red Cross).

militellum

Not that it really matters as long as relief gets to ALL the people affected, but as I am a member of Christian Childrens Fund (CCF) and have gone to their website and given there I would highly recommend it. They are a fantastic charity and nearly the most accountable one for getting the majority of your donation to the children, 80.3% as of 2004. They support the entire family structure. Currently I am sponsoring two children in the Bangalore area. They are called CCF, but both of my current sponsored children are hindi so it is just a name. This isn't meant to sound like an advertisement. Any place you decide to give is better than sitting on your wealth.

Dayglowhamster

Thanks for the responses. I know it may seem stupid to cosider such an amount of money as a responsibility, but I do. Lord knows if I was purchasing something for myself at that price I would shop round to get the best deal.

I gave half straight away figuring there's a need now and if nothing comes up in the first days when big businesses re-open after the holidays I'll do the same with the rest - at least it'll be certain.

I'm hoping that someone on the highstreet, supermarket chain, store chain etc will offer to match donations which will go to the SAME major charity (In the UK it's DEC - a combination of Red Cross, Unicef, etc etc).

However after hearing what's written here I'm NOT going to go for any company unknown to me in the real world.

I'm just trying to be as careful with this as I am with cash for me - I hunt round for weeks to get the cheapest flight, sometimes months.

skell

I commend everyone who investigates thoroughly before donating to any organization. I posted the Intrepid info because I've traveled with them and trust them. They've been very involved with charities in these countries since they began. To travel with them, you have to agree to abide by their policies in your actions, behavior, dress, etc.

But... there are a lot of good charities to choose from. (IMHO, I would avoid government and religious organizations - they often have other "agendas.")

Amazon.com makes it simple to donate to the Red Cross by credit card from their website.

I really appreciate the amount of time and thought that everyone is giving this subject.

bijapuri

thanx, Skell, that's what I needed- someone who knows about them. I will call them first business day.
BTW . . . Doctors without borders/MSF's website says they have enuff $$$ for Asia, and are asking those wishing to donate to them to give it to their general fund. They've got a point- the rest of the world is still trying to limp along!

full story:
http://www.doctorswithoutborders-usa.org/donate/