Gilroy
– The flags flying half-staff at Gilroy City Hall are symbolic
of local efforts to help victims of the deadly tsunami in southeast
Asia.
Gilroy – The flags flying half-staff at Gilroy City Hall are symbolic of local efforts to help victims of the deadly tsunami in southeast Asia.
A number of Gilroy churches and businesses are asking residents to step up and donate cash that will be given directly to relief organizations, namely the American Red Cross.
At Safeway on 905 First St., cash donations taken at checkstands and the customer service desk will go to the Red Cross and the United Nations Children’s Fund, or UNICEF. Last week the store raised more than $1,200 and this week has raised $635, said a Safeway manager who asked not to be identified.
“We’re doing this just to help,” she said. “It’s such a tragedy, and I believe we should all get together and help out. I believe that anything we can do will help.”
An employee at It’s A Grind coffee shop in the Pacheco Pass Shopping Center said that store’s donation box has been constantly full, with proceeds going toward AmeriCares. Customers also can add any amount of money to their order and specify it go to relief efforts, and $2 will be donated for every pound of coffee sold.
Similarly, all Starbucks coffee shops have placed donation boxes in their stores and also will donate $2 for every pound and $1 for every half-pound of Sumatra, decaf Sumatra and aged Sumatra whole bean coffee sold.
Andrea Andraga dropped $10 into the donation box at Starbucks Wednesday evening after she paid for her coffee.
“When you think of everything those people need right now, it’s humbling,” she said. “I know $10 is hardly anything, but I feel better knowing I helped.”
Starbucks on First Street in Gilroy has raised more than $400, said a store manager. Just a stone’s throw away at Nob Hill Foods, 100 percent of the this month’s proceeds from the store’s Food For Families program, which usually goes to Saint Joseph’s Family Center, will help relief efforts.
Saint Louise Regional Hospital is participating in a donation program that will channel donations to the Seton Institute through the Daughters of Charity, which has coordinated a nationwide tsunami relief effort. To donate, call coordinator Vivian Smith at 848-8601. Smith said hundreds of dollars have been collected so far, with checks continuing to come in.
Several local churches also are coordinating donation collections. Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 651 Broadway Way in Gilroy, is sending donations to The Episcopal Relief and Development Board. Call 800-334-7626, ext. 5129, or visit www.erd.org.
First Baptist Church at 8455 Wren Ave. in Gilroy is accepting donations that are sent weekly to the Southern Baptist Association of California.
Cynthia Shaw, director of marketing and communications for the Santa Clara Valley chapter of the American Red Cross, said although there is no Red Cross fundraising organized in Gilroy, there are several opportunities to volunteer in administrative tasks such as answering phones or helping process donations.
“We’ve had a great spontaneity of volunteers who are just so eager to help,” Shaw said.
Hollister residents still remember their own experience in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the 1997 floods that was wreaked havoc on the county and are generous when it comes to helping others in need, said Kathryn Englehard, executive director of the San Benito chapter of the American Red Cross.
“This is a community that responds very quickly to the needs of others,” said Kathryn Englehard, executive director of the San Benito Chapter of the American Red Cross.
Ladd Lane Elementary School and Sacred Heart School contacted the local Red Cross after students returned from winter break asking how they can help. Efforts to collect change in Ladd Lane’s classrooms led to a school-wide coin drive and has given students a chance to contribute to the relief efforts.
The project is appropriate for the school’s compassion theme this year, which teaches kids not only the spelling and meaning of the word, but also allows them a chance to experience it, said Bob Hammond, Ladd Lane’s principal.
“Kids have concerns when they see the devastation of people who don’t have homes or food to eat,” he said. “It hurts them to see other people suffer.”
Hollister’s Adventure Center Skydiving has responded with the same kind of compassion by organizing a fundraising weekend on Jan. 22 and 23 when they will donate $30 from each tandem jump to the American Red Cross. The business expects about 30 people to turn out for dives that weekend, meaning they could generate close to $1,000.
“A lot of fundraising nowadays is partisan,” said Aviva Maiden, a manager at Adventure Center Skydiving, who approached owner Tim Sayer with the idea. “But the people affected by this don’t fall to either side of the political spectrum. They were simply affected by this natural disaster.”
Others who are gathering donations for the relief effort locally are simply concerned citizens who were jolted into action after hearing reports of the tsunami and the steadily climbing death tolls on TV and radio. Cathy Kiles and friend Carol Feisthamel, for example, are petitioning friends and writing letters to local businesses to encourage them to make checks to the Red Cross.
“I am a mother, grandmother and an aunt,” said Kiles. “And seeing the reports on TV, I realize how fortunate we are to not have to worry about something like this.”
Private donations to the Red Cross in the U.S. have exceeded $92 million as of Tuesday, more so than in any other country. However, money donated by the U.S. government has been dwarfed by several other nations such as Australia, which donated $764 million and Germany, which contributed $674 million to the relief effort, according to the Associated Press.
For more information, contact 577-1000 or visit www.santaclaravalley.redcross.org.
Karina Ioffee contributed to this report.
Where to donate
• Gilroy Chapter of American Red Cross
7365 Monterey Road,
Gilroy, CA 95020
(408) 842-4414 or
1-800-HELP-NOW
www.santaclaravalley.
redcross.org
Or view lists of the recommended U.S. charities doing tsunami relief work on the Web. The list is put together by the American Institute of Philanthropy, a watchdog group, and the Better Business Bureau.
View recommended charities at: www.charitywatch.org and www.bbb.org
