October 2009

Donate-a-Meal Fund for Peace Funds Emergency Aid in Southeast Asia

The executive committee of Rissho Kosei-kai's Donate-a-Meal Fund for Peace announced October 4 that it would donate three million Japanese yen in emergency aid for the victims of Typhoon Ketsana, which hit the Philippine island of Luzon September 26, and for victims of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra September 30.

The Philippine government announced that as of the end of September, more than 240 people were confirmed dead and 40 missing. About 80 percent of Manila was flooded, and some 370,000 people took shelter in schools and other public buildings. The executive committee decided to donate one million yen to the UN World Food Programme, which was providing relief in the Philippines at the government's request.

On Sumatra, where the earthquake reportedly did extensive damage, Indonesia's Ministry of Health announced October 4 that 551 people were dead, 3,435 injured, and 1,600 missing, and that more than 20,000 houses were damaged or destroyed. In the capital of Padang in West Sumatra Province, where there was massive damage, many residents were crushed under the debris of collapsed buildings. Rescue crews from overseas organizations helped with relief operations. The executive committee also decided to donate two million yen to the Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA), a nongovernmental organization, to help fund emergency medical treatment on Sumatra.

[back to News Archive]