While we saw a reasonable response in supporting the Bihar flood relief (in terms of cloths and money), there has been far less effort to reach out to the flood-affected in Orissa. Bihar was, by most accounts, the bigger of the two disasters, but Orissa is not far behind. According to a report from our volunteers in Orissa, nearly 5000 villages and over 30 lakh people have been affected by the flooding in the Mahanadi river and its tributaries.

Some of us are collecting (used) clothes and funds to this end. All kinds of garments, including woolen, are useful (Western dresses for women should be omitted, although for young girls, they should be fine). Clothes will be sent to either AID’s Orissa chapter or Goonj (a well-known NGO), depending on what quantities we get. If you want to contribute, contact me. I will try to suggest a collection point, as near to you as possible. As of now, the plan is to freeze the collection on 15th Oct (next Wednesday).

We will divert all the funds to AID, which, in turn, will release them to its field people in Orissa. The cheques should be payable to ‘AID INDIA’. In case you are doing a collection drive in the office/housing colony, even cash can be accepted. Please contact me to find out who to hand over these or for details reg. depositing these.

You can also choose to bypass us completely. Secure online donations towards AID’s Orissa flood relief can be directly made [through credit cards, online bank accounts, debit/ATM cards,’PayMate’, etc.] via http://www.eurekachild.org/donate/donorissa.php. For every
contribution, whatever be the means, AID can issue a tax-deductible receipt.

Do circulate this among your contacts, and if possible, collect clothes/funds from your neighbours and office colleagues as well.

⊕