Chinese-Canadians reach out to quake victims

by Phil Skipper | May 13, 2008 at 04:11 pm | 245 views | add comment | 0 recommendations

Chinese-Canadians across the country are coming together to help victims of the massive earthquake in Sichuan, China. It's great to see people help each other out in times of duress.

Efforts to help people affected by Monday's massive earthquake in China are taking shape across Canada.

Members of the Chinese-Canadian community said Tuesday a number of initiatives are expected to be launched in the next few days.

In Toronto, Banggu Jiang, head of the Chinese Confederation of Sichuanese, announced the establishment of the China-Sichuan Relief Fund to funnel Canadian donations to earthquake victims.

Jiang said it has been a very emotional 24 hours since news of the quake came out

She said Chinese-Canadians worried about families and friends in China realized they had to do something immediately.

Donations to the China-Sichuan Relief Fund will be accepted at Bank of China branches across the country.

Andrea Chun, a talk show host on Fairchild Radio, which serves the Chinese-speaking community in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary, said people in several cities were also holding formal and informal meetings to discuss relief efforts.

Chun said well-known charities like World Vision Canada and the Canadian Red Cross were already poised to send funds and help Chinese organizations working in Sichuan and other affected areas.