My mom and dad came home from Phuket Island, Thailand, to be in London when I was there last month.
If they hadn’t done that, they’d surely have been in London to be with my sister over Christmas. Still, they were talking of leaving for Phuket again, soon.
Regardless, they were not there when the tsunami hit. But untold numbers of people were, and this morning, the death toll has risen to over 100,000, with millions homeless.
In the back of my mind, I see myself by the phone, inconsolable, trying desperately to get through to anywhere or anyone who’d be able to tell me news about my parents, had they still been there.
In my mind’s eye, I see the thousands and thousands and thousands of families trying to do the same, with their loved ones.
100,000 dead. Expected to rise.
What can people possible do in the face of such horror and misery? My pal Tony e-mailed me this:
The following aid agencies are accepting contributions for assistance that they or their affiliates will provide for those affected by the earthquake and tidal waves in Asia:
Action Against Hunger 247 W. 37th St., Suite 1201 New
York, NY 10018 (212) 967-7800 www.aah-usa.org
American Jewish World Service 45 W. 36th St., 10th
Floor New York, NY 10018 (800) 889-7146 www.ajws.org
ADRA International 9-11 Fund 12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904 (800) 424-2372 www.adra.org
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC Crisis Fund)
1501 Cherry St. Philadelphia, PA 19102-1403 (215)
241-7000 www.afsc.org
Catholic Relief Services P.O. Box 17090 Baltimore, MD
21203-7090 (800) 736-3467 www.catholicrelief.org
Christian Children’s Fund 2821 Emerywood Parkway
Richmond, VA 23289-3725 (800) 776-6767
www.ChristianChildrensFund.org
Direct Relief International 27 S. La Patera Lane Santa
Barbara, CA 93117-3214 (805) 964-4767
www.directrelief.org
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres P.O.
Box 2247 New York, NY 10116-2247 (888) 392-0392
www.doctorswithoutborders.org
International Medical Corps 1919 Santa Monica Blvd.
Suite 300 Santa Monica, CA 90404-1950 (800) 481-4462
www.imcworldwide.org
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies P.O. Box 372 CH-1211 Geneva 19 Switzerland
41-22-730-4222 www.ifrc.org/
Or: American Red Cross, Greater Richmond Chapter P.O.
Box 27006, Richmond, Va. 23261 (804) 780-2250
www.greaterrichmond.redcross.org
International Orthodox Christian Charities Middle East
Crisis Response P.O. Box 630225 Baltimore, MD
21263-0225 (877) 803-4622
Lutheran World Relief P.O. Box 17061 Baltimore, MD
21298-9832 (800) 597-5972 www.lwr.org
MAP International 2200 Glynco Parkway P.O. Box 215000
Brunswick, GA 31521-5000 (800) 225-8550 www.map.org
Mercy Corps P.O. Box 2669 Portland, OR 97208-2669
(800) 852-2100 www.mercycorps.org
Northwest Medical Teams P.O. Box 10 Portland, OR
97207-0010 (503) 624-1000 www.nwmedicalteams.org
Operation USA 8320 Melrose Ave., Suite 200 Los
Angeles, CA 90069-5951 (800) 678-7255 www.opusa.org
Relief International 1575 Westwood Blvd., Suite 201
Los Angeles, CA 90024-5627 (800) 572-3332 www.ri.org
Save the Children Asia Earthquake/Tidal Wave Relief
Fund 54 Wilton Road Westport, CT 06880-3108 (800)
728-3843 www.savethechildren.org
U.S. Fund for UNICEF 333 E. 38th St., 6th Floor New
York, NY 10016-2793 (800) FOR-KIDS www.unicefusa.org
World Concern 19303 Fremont Ave. N Seattle, WA
98133-3800 (800) 755-5022 www.worldconcern.org
World Relief 7 E. Baltimore St. Baltimore, MD
21202-1602 (443) 451-1900 www.wr.org
World Vision P.O. Box 70288 Tacoma, WA 98481-0288
(888) 56-CHILD www.worldvision.org
My parents could have been there when the tsunami hit.
Yet it’s hard to feel lucky, fortunate, whatever, when so very many people have died, and so many others are suffering so horribly.
Instead, I’m feeling very, very small and powerless.
What can we do?
What’s best to do?
How can we help?