Gujarat Relief Urgently Needed

[Guest guest]

Namaskar,

As the

world is now aware, one of the most devastating earthquakes in world

history has hit the South Asian sub-continent on Friday, January

26th. The epicenter of this deadly quake - 7.9 on the richter scale

- was in the western Indian state of Gujarat. At the latest count,

approximately 15,000 people have been killed, with many thousands more

injured and missing. The damage is easily in the multimillions of

dollars.

A

world-wide appeal for donations and assistance has been issued by many

charitable and relief organizations in order to help alleviate some of

the incalculable suffering that has occurred. The need is

immediate. The need is urgent.

As fellow

followers of the culture and religion of Sanatana Dharma, our brothers

and sisters in Gujarat, and throughout the entire affected region in

India, need our immediate help. Sanatana Dharma is a religion that

teaches the invaluable importance of compassion, service and love.

Now is the time to live our religion's highest ideals by sharing what we

have and doing what we can to help our fellow Hindus in this terrible

time of need.

Below is

an appeal for funds by one of the best and most effective Indian relief

organizations on the scene. I personally endorse the appeal and

urge you to please donate as much as you can to this relief effort.

Please forward this appeal to as many people as you can. Thank

you.

Jaya Sri Rama,

Frank Morales, M.A.

International Sanatana Dharma Society

www.dharmacentral.com

____

INDIA DEVELOPMENT & RELIEF FUND, INC.

[Tax-Exempt Organization under U.S. Internal Revenue Code, Section

501©(3):

ID 52-1555563]

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 28, 2001

(Prepared by Beth Kulkarni and reviewed by National President Dr. Vinod

Prakash)

One of the worst earthquakes in recorded history has hit Gujarat state,

India. More than 15,000 people are feared to have died and hundreds more

have been injured. It is thought that the city of Ahmedabad has suffered

the highest number of deaths. Property damage is estimated to be in the

millions of dollars.

India Development & Relief Fund (IDRF) has released $20,000

for the relief and rehabilitation of the victims of this natural

disaster. It, as all funds that are raised by the organization, will be

sent to well-established, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with

outstanding reputations for humanitarian service and fiscal

responsibility.

IDRF, an established non-profit organization in the United States, is

administered by volunteers with no honorarium or overhead. It channels

100% of the contributions to voluntary NGOs that have a proven

track record of accountability and dedication. Because of the working

relationships with many NGOs in India, specific organizations that will

best utilize the funds will be quickly identified. IDRF maintains bank

accounts both in India as well as in the USA which allows for a quick

transfer of funds to the selected organizations.

During the past decade, IDRF has raised $5.8 million in support of

various charitable organizations in India, including $300,000 for the

1993 Latur (Maharashtra) earthquake victims, $315,000 for 1999 Kargil

victims and more than $550,000 for Orissa super-cyclone victims.

Besides accepting individual, corporate and organizational donations by

check, IDRF is eligible to receive corporate-matching gift funds. Donors

working for firms that have such a program are encouraged to take

advantage of it to increase the funds available to help the victims of

this huge national disaster. Gifts of appreciated stocks can also be

donated, making it possible to give generously without incurring the

capital gain taxes.

Donations to IDRF are tax-exempt in United States. Checks can be made

payable to "IDRF" and mailed to:

IDRF,

4807 Phebe Ave., Fremont, CA 94555-2502

In the memo, please mention "Gujarat Earthquake".

Additional information is available at the organization’s website,

http://www.idrf.org,

or by emailing idrf (AT) aol (DOT) com.

Volunteers in the various parts of the United States:

West:

Chetan

Gandhi (562)

921-4912 chetangandhi

Shyam

Gokulgandhi (510)

794-5088 idrf (AT) aol (DOT) com

Mid West:

Srinarayan

Chandak (309)

662-8353 chandak1 (AT) aol (DOT) com

Vijay

Pallod (281)

568-4995 pallod (AT) aol (DOT) com

East:

Garima

Shrivastava (770)

394-5031 vijayshrivastava (AT) hotmail (DOT) com

Abhay

Belambe (781)

641-1593 abelambe (AT) hotmail (DOT) com

------------------

Frank Morales, M.A.

Languages and Cultures of Asia

University of Wisconsin-Madison

fmorale1 (AT) students (DOT) wisc.edu

Home (608) 288-0266

Dharma Central:

www.dharmacentral.com