Red Cross says Thank you
[ UniNews Vol. 14, No. 3
3 - 16 March 2005 ]
By Christina Buckridge
The compassion and concern of the University of Melbourne community for the victims of the Boxing Day tsunami has been acknowledged by the Australian Red Cross.
In a letter to the Vice-Chancellor Professor Glyn Davis, Acting Secretary-General of the Australian Red Cross Mr Dale Cleaver expressed the gratitude of the Australian Red Cross for the Universitys donation of $100,000.
The Red Cross donation was part of the Universitys $250,000 cash donation to major tsunami relief organisations. UNICEF, Oxfam and CARE Australia also each received $50,000.
Mr Cleaver said that the support of organisations such as the University made an important difference in providing emergency aid and relief.
We are now better placed to assist an estimated two million people affected by this tragic event, in the first six to eight months alone. Red Cross will operate in the affected areas for years to come, assisting people to rebuild their lives, communities and economies.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement response focuses on providing relief and assistance through activities such as:
health care logistics and tele-communications;
psychological counselling for 11,000 men, women and children;
supporting more than 9000 Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers delivering first aid, collecting the dead, distributing food and non-food assistance, arranging temporary shelter;
providing an additional 300 Red Cross aid workers, including 15 from Australia;
water purification providing clean water for 115,000 people;
re-uniting families and helping people re-establish contact.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Peter McPhee, who heads the Universitys Tsunami Taskforce, says that the University community will remember the victims of the Boxing Day tsunami at a multi-faith service on the South Lawn on Wednesday 9 March from 1pm. The wet weather venue is the Copland Theatre, Economics and Commerce Building.
Members of the consular corps, representatives of the major faiths and student representatives from each of the tsunami-affected countries will take part in the service.
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