Fellow lawyer Lance Harwell (with Staines & Eppling in Metairie, LA) sent me this press release dated Dec. 29, 2004:
The earthquake that unleashed deadly tsunami waves from Indonesia to East Africa last Sunday was so powerful it caused the earth to wobble on its axis which permanently altered the regional map, according to U.S. geophysicists. The sweeping and long term impact of this disaster on the residents of the region will require support from around the globe for many years to come.
The Asian Pacific American Society (APAS) of greater New Orleans is partnering with the United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area to raise money locally to respond to the southern Asian communities affected by the earthquakes and tsunamis. McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. is providing a lead corporate contribution of $50,000 to help initiate this New Orleans effort to assist affected countries recover and rebuild. Additionally, Freeport–McMoRan’s affiliate - - PT Freeport Indonesia - - has already contributed $500,000 directly to the Indonesia Relief Fund, according to Richard Adkerson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
Since yesterday, we have raised approximately $13,000 through the Hibernia Bank account. This does not include the checks which are pending clearance nor the $50,000.00 committed by McMoran Copper and Gold, Inc. We can safely surmise that we have collected close to $70,000 and are hoping to reach our goal of $100,000 in the next few days.
The decision to distribute the funds raised will be made by the Board of Directors of APAS, under the guidance of its executive committee, who will assess the urgency of each country’s needs. 100% of the funds collected will be made available for use by the respective agencies through the International United Way agency, without any administrative cost taken out of the fund.
All dollars raised will be forwarded to and administered by United Way International, which has affiliates in all regions impacted by the disaster. All the funds will go directly to the cities and villages.
United Way and its partners will rebuild homes, schools, and health facilities, restore destroyed farms, replant crops, provide mental health support and more. Full recovery will take time, care, focus, and support.
For additional information, contact Raj Pannu at (504) 417-3282 or via email: rajpannu@aol.com or APAS office-831-1148 or via email: help@apasneworleans.com.
Individuals interested in helping can contribute to the APAS Tsunami Relief Fund (Account Number 12262004) at any Hibernia Bank or send their checks made out to Tsunami Relief Fund and mail to the APAS office located at 3500 N. Causeway Blvd. Suite 1548 Metairie, La. 70002.
If you'd like more information from Lance, you can contact him at (504) 866-4847 or Lance@Staines-Eppling.com.
Ray, you live in an area that gets frequent hurricane and storm warnings. I live in Oklahoma where we get tornado warnings that save lives. Apparently there is no Tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean, making me wonder whether Hawaii or other areas that could be devasted by Tsunamis have any kind of alert system that would help to prevent such a massive loss of life.
Posted by: celia | December 30, 2004 at 01:03 PM