Dear Editor,

As of 12/30, a reported 116,000 have died from the horrificearthquake and tsunamis. I don’t believe any of us could imaginethe terror these people are dealing with. If everyone inMississippi could give just $5 toward the relief effort, we couldhelp to provide some relief.

This amount doesn’t sound like much but according to the 2003Census the estimated population for Mississippi is 2,881,281. Ifeveryone could give just $5, we could raise $14,406,405. Thinkabout it-just $5 from everyone.

If you can give more, great! All of these agencies are acceptingdonations via phone, Internet, and in person. Take your lunch towork one day and donate what you would have spent to the AmericanRed Cross or any one of the other groups. Tell them it is forInternational Response Fund. The cost of eating out for one week tohelp people who have lost everything-family members, their home,clothing, mementos-everything.

After surviving such a horrifying experience, they now must faceno water, no food, no home, no place to bury the dead, and acritical need for supplies. Its time to step up, Mississippi.

Groups accepting donations include: AmeriCares, Action AgainstHunger, ADRA International, American Jewish Joint DistributionCommittee Inc., American Red Cross, Association for India’sDevelopment, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Christian Children’sFund, Church World Service, Direct Relief International, DoctorsWithout Borders, Food for the Hungry Inc., International Aid,International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies,International Orthodox Christian Charities, International MedicalCorps, International Rescue Committee, Lutheran World Relief, MAPInternational, Mercy Corps, Network for Good, Operation Blessing,Operation USA, Oxfam America, Plan USA, Project ConcernInternational, Salvation Army, Save the Children USA, UNICEF, U. N.World Food Programme, World Concern, and World Vision.

Dorothy Weeks