Support! Chile Earthquake Relief.

Dear UBC Community,

In the early hours of Saturday, 27th Feb 2010, an earthquake of magnitude 8.8 (the eighth largest ever recorded) struck the coast of Chile, severely affecting six of the nation’s provinces. At least 800 people have been confirmed dead and 2 million have been left without shelter or food, in the wake of the earthquake and ensuing Tsunami.

For all of us Chileans currently living abroad, the sense of powerlessness at seeing our families, friends and fellow countrymen endure such devastation is overwhelming. While we cannot reclaim the lives that were lost, we must now unite in repairing the damages and rebuilding our country. This is an effort we want to take an active part in, and wish to give all those interested the opportunity to help.

Since this weekend’s events, members and friends of the Chilean community at UBC have rallied to form a relief effort called “eightpointeight” www.eightpointeight.org, and have organized a number of events and initiatives in which we hope you will participate.

1. Fund Raising Event with the support of the Chilean Consulate (www.chilevancouver.com). The event consists of the following:

a. Chilean Wines Raffle: the Chilean Consulate has donated a number of bottles of Chilean wine. They are to be raffled among those donating 5$ or more, and writing their contact info into the lists that will be next to the donation boxes The toll will be held at the I-House on March 12th.

b. Voluntary Donations: we will visit departments between March 4th and March 11th asking for donations. Donation boxes will be left at the targeted departments between March 12th and March 18^th. We welcome donations under 5$ and after the March 12th deadline, however those will not be entered into the wine raffle.

c. The collected money will go directly to Un Techo para Chile (“A Roof for Chile”). You can also make your donation online (www.untechoparachile.com). If you like to participate in the wine raffle just send us your donation confirmation to eightpointeight@gmail.com. “Un Techo para Chile” is a non-profit organization that builds emergency housing for victims of poverty and natural disasters. You may contact the Chilean Consulate (www.chilevancouver.com) if you desire to obtain information about this institution.

2. Photo Challenge Initiative with the support of UBC.

§ Upload pictures promoting our effort (all we ask is for people to hold up signs or flags that say “8.8 Chile” or just “8.8”). We intend to use the pictures collected to garner media attention and raise funds from external sources.

§ Visit our facebook fan-page and examine our website – www.eightpointeight.org – to stay informed of the various local and global relief initiatives.

With your support and the help of the volunteers working with us in Chile, we can provide families who have lost everything with food, temporary shelter and the resources necessary to begin rebuilding their homes. We would be very grateful if you could support us in our venture and help us raise awareness and funds to help the victims of the earthquake.

Sincerely Yours,
The Chilean Community at UBC