Introduction to Microsoft employees adopt-a-tent-village program
Pakistan was hit by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake on October 8, 2005. There are about 50K+ confirmed deaths and some organizations claim that the toll is 80K! Even worse news are that many cities and villages are completely demolished and more than 3 million people are homeless now. With winter arriving soon, UN and it’s sister organizations have appealed to the world to help the victims otherwise a second massive wave of deaths may follow. Similarly, according to UNICEF, more than 10,000 children could die in coming weeks.
So what we can do about this?
Microsoft employees have started an encouraging effort to save as many lives as possible! They are sponsoring a tent village for 1000 people! As construction of permanent homes is going to take a long time, tent village will provide the best intermediate solution. Later on, the project may be extended and converted into a permanent village based on employee participation.
A tent village includes at least 200 tents (with an average family size of 5 per tent), a school, a clinic, one big community kitchen, toilets, a water tank, a mosque and a vocational (skills) training center.
Organization Summary
Tent village will be implemented by a non-profit [501 (c) 3] organization, Helping Hand, Jamaica, NY, USA (Tax ID: 31-1628040). It is a global humanitarian relief and development organization responding to human sufferings in emergency and disaster situations anywhere in the world. They have strong presence in the disaster area and also work with their partner organizations to reach out more people. For details please visit: http://www.helpinghandonline.org.
Plan
The estimated cost of setting up a 200 tent village is $70,000. Given that Microsoft will match, we need to raise $35,000. Our plan is to get 100 participants with an approximate cost of $350 per employee, which is less than a dollar-a-day if spread over one year. The contributions can be made one-time or on a per month basis with auto-deduction. Also, contribution of any smaller amounts will also be appreciated!
If you sponsor this project, please either pay online or write a check to: Helping Hand, 16626, 89th Avenue, Jamaica, NY 11432, USA. Please mention the intent as “Microsoft Employee Tent-Village” and also send an email to razaulm so we can keep a count of sponsorship. Do not forget to match your donation using Microsoft's give website!
Disclaimer: This project is solely funded by Microsoft employees and has no endorsement by or affiliation to Microsoft Corporation [ so far :-) ].
So what we can do about this?
Microsoft employees have started an encouraging effort to save as many lives as possible! They are sponsoring a tent village for 1000 people! As construction of permanent homes is going to take a long time, tent village will provide the best intermediate solution. Later on, the project may be extended and converted into a permanent village based on employee participation.
A tent village includes at least 200 tents (with an average family size of 5 per tent), a school, a clinic, one big community kitchen, toilets, a water tank, a mosque and a vocational (skills) training center.
Organization Summary
Tent village will be implemented by a non-profit [501 (c) 3] organization, Helping Hand, Jamaica, NY, USA (Tax ID: 31-1628040). It is a global humanitarian relief and development organization responding to human sufferings in emergency and disaster situations anywhere in the world. They have strong presence in the disaster area and also work with their partner organizations to reach out more people. For details please visit: http://www.helpinghandonline.org.
Plan
The estimated cost of setting up a 200 tent village is $70,000. Given that Microsoft will match, we need to raise $35,000. Our plan is to get 100 participants with an approximate cost of $350 per employee, which is less than a dollar-a-day if spread over one year. The contributions can be made one-time or on a per month basis with auto-deduction. Also, contribution of any smaller amounts will also be appreciated!
If you sponsor this project, please either pay online or write a check to: Helping Hand, 16626, 89th Avenue, Jamaica, NY 11432, USA. Please mention the intent as “Microsoft Employee Tent-Village” and also send an email to razaulm so we can keep a count of sponsorship. Do not forget to match your donation using Microsoft's give website!
Disclaimer: This project is solely funded by Microsoft employees and has no endorsement by or affiliation to Microsoft Corporation [ so far :-) ].
posted by Raza at 12:15 PM
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