Jewish and Israeli organizations have mobilized to help the cyclone-ravaged people of Myanmar.
Both the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and B’nai B’rith International have opened disaster relief funds to send aid to the Southeast Asian country, formerly called Burma, where at least 22,000 people have been killed and millions left homeless after the May 3 cyclone.
The JDC’s International Development Program, which responds to natural and manmade disasters providing immediate relief and long-term assistance, collects funds on a nonsectarian basis. The JDC is helping some of the region’s estimated 10 Jews.
The B’nai B’rith disaster relief fund will allocate $10,000 to help IsraAID send 10 relief workers, including paramedics, doctors, nurses and water specialists, to Myanmar. The team is cooperating with the local United Nations office and Israel’s embassy in the region.
The UJA Federation of Greater Toronto also has allocated $20,000 to fund IsraAID’s mission.
Tel Aviv-based IsraAID, the Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid, is an umbrella organization of more than 35 Israeli and Jewish nongovernmental organizations active in development and relief work.
Donations to the JDC can be made online at www.jdc.org; by phone at (212) 687-6200; or to Myanmar Cyclone Relief, P.O. Box 530, 132 E. 43rd St., New York, NY 10017.
Donations to B’nai B’rith can be sent to B’nai B’rith International Disaster Relief Fund, 2020 K Street, NW, 7th Floor, Washington, DC 20006, or online at www.bnaibrith.org/support/disaster_relief.cfm.
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