Subject: Sri Lanka Disaster Relief Fund/HELP if you wish to make a donation.

After the Dec 2004 Tsunami that hit SE Asia, some of us Sri Lankans who live in the U.S. organized a Relief Fund in an effort to make sure that 100% of donations collected would reach the survivors. After seen the devastation in Galle, (which is one of the hardest hit areas in Sri Lanka), I got together with my friends here, identified several small projects that we could carry through ourselves. One of the projects would be to supply items for families in order to continue with their jobs to earn a living. Most of the women in this village had income as tailors and of course, they lost their machines along with the houses and everything else they owned. We identified seven such families, and a man in this village who lost his push bicycle which he used to sell fish door to door. List includes several sewing machines and a push bicycles to 8 families in a small fishing village (Watta) who lost their means of livelihood.

            The cost of sewing machines and a push bicycle would be under US$ 2000. I undertook to collect money for this project and whatever donation you can make would be greatly appreciated. You can send a check to the account number below, made payable to “Sri Lanka Disaster Relief Fund”. You can write “Sewing Machines/Bicycle” in the Memo line.  If we collect over $ 2000, the remainder would be used for a sister project that would provide scholarships for school children orphaned by the Tsunami. The donation is tax deductible. If you would like a make a contribution, you can send a check to the following account.  If you like a receipt for your records, please e-mail me including your mailing address. Thank you.

            We hope to distribute the items to the survivors in early summer.

Make check payable to: “Sri Lanka Disaster Relief Fund” Account #: 014-7013836

You can send a check directly to the bank (see below), but the bank may not send you a receipt.

 (FYI: The Fund and Account was set up by a member of our group living in CT. The account is at Peoples Bank, PO Box 1580, Bridgeport, CT 06601-1580; CT State registration # : 12631 dated1/4/2005; Federal Tax ID (EIN): 43-2069817)