Foundation receives $16.2m for quake relief

The China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation has received more than 100 million yuan ($16.2 million) for relief work on the magnitude-7.0 earthquake that rocked Lushan in Southwest China’s Sichuan province on April 20.

"We should make a priority of the needs of people in the quake zone and assess their needs in different stages of relief work," He Daofeng, executive vice-president of the foundation, said at a news conference in Beijing on April 23 about its relief efforts in Lushan county, Sichuan province.

"We must investigate different people's needs in different stages. For example, men and women, the old and the young - their needs in emergency rescue, in temporary settlements, and in restoring livelihoods and rebuilding homes are different," He said.

Right after the earthquake hit Lushan County, Ya'an, in Sichuan province, the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, a nationwide NGO specializing in alleviating poverty in the country, decided to donate relief supplies worth 2 million yuan and send a rescue team to Lushan to assess the condition, and to hand out relief supplies in the quake zone.

"To better use the donation and spend the money, we should put ourselves in their position, so that we can solve their problems," He said.

By 9 am on April 23, the Foundation had received donations worth more than 100 million yuan from enterprises and celebrities.

"Donations are not the end of the relief efforts, they are just the beginning." He said. "On one hand, we should investigate the needs of people in the quake zone and deliver supplies accordingly. On the other hand, we also should make the information clear to the public, so that we can get support from more donators and involve more volunteers and organizations in the relief efforts."