Vern is going out to do something truly remarkable – read on, and I hope it will inspire your generosity! I know about 400 of you read this drivel every day, and while few of you comment, I hope you’ll be a little more forthcoming with your wallets than your words…
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Starts: November 03, 2005
Ends: November 28, 2005
I’m leaving to climb Mount Kilimanjaro on November 13th to raise awareness for the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan. As this is not a trivial effort, and there is a certain degree of danger involved, this is a fitting way to bring some coverage to this important and tragic event.
To date, over 80,000 people have died, but many more people are now without shelter or an adequate distribution system for relief supplies. In fact, over 3,000,000 survivors are entering the winter without shelter or enough food. In addition, hundreds of thousands of people have not yet been reached by aide workers.
In the coming weeks, many more people will be dying from exposure. This awful story, which still unfolding, isn’t receiving the needed news coverage. The biggest problem is that this relief effort is significantly under-funded. For example, helicopters are unable to fly them to their maximum capacity because of extreme fuel shortages due to lack of funds.
The UN has stated that the “world must wake up to this crisis”, or it’s going to become far, far worse. I’m hoping that my climb will contribute to the awareness of these people’s plight. These suffering people need your help. Even a small contribution can go a long way to help a few people with shelter and provisions.
To help, please do one of the following:
[_] – Contribute $10 (or more) to the Pakistan Earthquake Relief Fund
http://clubzone.com/store/cart.asp?product_iid=424
[_] – Contribute to your favorite charity that is helping with this effort.
— http:// www.oxfam.com
— http:// www.care.com
— http:// www.unicef.com
— http://www.redcross.org
— http://www.redcross.ca
(If you go this route, please email me so I can keep track)
[_] – If you are unable to contribute then please call, chat to or email 5 people to let them know about this cause.
Thank you all for your help. Your efforts will go a long way to creating warmth and comfort for those who need you now. If you know me personally, I would appreciate an extra effort promoting this to push me along when I am at 5,500 metres, and still am looking at another 395 to go.
Sincerely,
…..Vern (AKA Java)
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I asked Vern, and if you donate through ClubZone, he’ll be donating 100% (minus the $0.30 per $10 transaction fee) to the Canadian Red Cross Pakistan Quake Relief fund.
