Secular Humanist Aid and Relief Effort raises $22,000 in one week

[Ian David]

Secular Humanist Aid and Relief Effort (SHARE) raised $22,000 in one week for victims of the Tsunami.

Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 18:00:35 GMT <01:00:35 PM EST>
From: Center For Inquiry <[e-mail]>

Subject: Update on Tsunami Victim Relief

Update on SHARE Fund Drive to Assist Victims of Tsunami

Dear Friends,

Last week, the Center for Inquiry sent out a plea to friends
(subscribers and supporters) for whom we have e-mail addresses,
which is only about 15% of our entire list. We invited them to
contribute to tsunami victims through SHARE, the Secular
Humanist Aid and Relief Effort, an organization sponsored by the
Council for Secular Humanism. (Click here to learn more about
the fund drive -- http://ga1.org/ct/bp_Xvf110qLc/ )

We are pleased to announce that we have raised over $22,000
(100% of the funds received will be forwarded to an organization
providing direct relief to the victims). The support has been
outstanding already. Thank you!

We continue to be deeply distressed by the news coming out of
the Indian Ocean region. The area has been devastated by this
terrible tragedy. The conditions in the areas hit by the tsunami
continue to be perilous and will require a concerted effort by
many people to overcome this tragedy. So if you have not done so
already we would urge you to consider a donation. (Click here if
you would like to make a donation --
https://secure.ga3.org/05/donate_to_help_tsunami_victims/nk1_Xvf11BqMq )

To encourage Americans to provide assistance to the countries in
desperate need - the House and Senate unanimously passed a
tsunami tax relief bill on January 6th that will allow Americans
to deduct donations to tsunami relief efforts through January
31st, 2005 from their 2004 tax returns. President Bush signed
the bill into law on January 7th.

The address of SHARE is PO Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226, or you
may make your contribution to SHARE directly by clicking here --
https://secure.ga3.org/05/donate_to_help_tsunami_victims/nk1_Xvf11BqMq .We are donating the funds raised to Sarvodaya, a charity in Sri Lanka, upon the recommendation of Sir Arthur C. Clarke who resides in that country. If you wish to make contributions to other countries, SHARE will designate these funds to CARE or Oxfam. All funds channeled through SHARE are tax-exempt in the United States.

We wish to thank you again for partnering with the Center for
Inquiry to make this fund drive successful!

Sincerely Yours,

Paul Kurtz
Chairman
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There is no mention I can find of how much money Pat Robertson's "Operation Blessing" has raised so far.

However, apparently only 85% of the fundie money goes to "aid."

That 85% goes to "ministry and program," apparently lumping "ministry" into the same category as "aid." Food, water, medicine, prayer... to Pat Robertson, they're all the same thing.
http://www.ob.org/about/financial.asp

I think we are MUCH BETTER OFF donating to the "goldess atheist" relief agencies than to the "christian" ones!

Please donate to SHARE. 100% goes to aid, 0% goes to "ministry."
https://secure.ga3.org/05/donate_to_help_tsunami_victims/nk1_Xvf11BqMq

[Inland]

1. Ah, the "Red Crossless"! nt

[patcox2]

2. Catholic Relief Services donated $25 million.

No preaching, all aid.

But its still nice that the secular humanists could come up with one tenth of one percent as much as the catholics.

[Ian David]

3. Ah, but that is in just one week

And they also don't have the tremendous audience and reach and established base that Catholic Charities has.

This is a charity that was only created last week with less than 10,000 people subscribed to their email list.

[patcox2]

4. Hey, good works are good works.

Its shouldn't be an issue, it shouldn't be necessary to mention who gives, secular or religious. Congratulations to them, of course. And if you knew that Catholic relief has an annual budget of almost $500 million, $25 million is not that much. Just tweaking.