Friday, March 05, 2010

CHILE NEEDS OUR HELP!


Chile, the country I grew up in and love as my own, was hit last Saturday morning with one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded. Although construction in Santiago, its capital, was largely able to hold up to this violent quake, many towns outside of Santiago have been levelled both by the earthquake and by the tsunamis that followed shortly after. Many people are still trapped in their collapsed apartment buildings, and rescue workers have been working round the clock since Saturday in the hopes that they will be able to find as many people alive as possible. In the coastal towns, homes that stood along the beach have been swept away by the sea, some with entire families inside them. Those that remain look as if a giant tongue had licked them clean of all their contents, their roofs, their windows and their doors. Two million people have been left homeless by this disaster that also took the lives of more than 700 people.


Chileans are a proud and strong people. They've been hit before and have risen from the rubble, but they need our help this time. The Chilean embassies (www.chile.ca, www.chile-usa.org) have set up a bank account for donations:


IN CANADA: Scotiabank Account Nº 400060140813

Account Name: Embassy of Chile - Earthquake Relief Fund


IN THE US: Bank of America Nº 226000255231

Account Name: Chile Earthquake Relief Fund


Your donations will feed and clothe people who have been left with nothing, they will rebuild the homes of those who lost it all and the bridges that connect rural Chile to the rest of the world, so much needed aid can be transported to them.


Please be generous.


Thank you.