On February 27^th 2010, an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.8 shook the country of Chile for 3 minutes. In those three minutes, millions became homeless, hundreds died and tsunami warnings were issued for nations thousands of miles away. With it being one of the most powerful earthquakes in history all of us need to do what we can to help. For anyone looking for information regarding loved ones, take a look at Google's Chile earthquake page which has ways to help you find people. Along with helping find loved one, Google has news feeds and charity sites as well.

Charities in Chile

In my previous blog on Haiti I went over a few organizations that will be helping Chile as well.  I wanted to bring to your attention other worthy charities you may not be familiar with that are on the ground in Chile now.

Samaritans Purse is a nondenominational Christian organization based out of North Carolina. Founded in 1970, Samaritans Purse has worked with victims of poverty, natural disasters, war and disease throughout the world.  Having a long history of work in South America, the organization has permanent staff in Boliva where they are working with the Bolivian assistance response team.  The organization is also currently coordinating with officials in Concepcion to figure out the best way to help.

With teams working in Haiti as well, Samaritans Purse is an organization that could use any help you can. If you can't afford to donate now please look into the "Fill a Shoebox" program for children around the holidays.

International Medical Corps is an international humanitarian non-profit medical organization that is dedicated to saving lives through health care training, relief and development programs. With the help of volunteer doctors and nurses, the International Medical Corps focuses on improving the quality of life by helping at risk people by giving medical assistance and health care training.  With the ability to respond rapidly to emergency situations, International Medical Corps breathes new life into devastated health care.

The International Medical Corps was established in 1984 by Dr. Robert Simon whom was an emergency room physician that took action after reading of the tragedies the Afghan people endured as a result of the Soviet invasion and occupation.  During his many trips to Afghanistan Dr. Simon's realized that the existing clinics could not help those in need.  Dr Simon started a training clinic near the Pakistan border to train Afghan people to care for ill.

With representatives on the ground in Chile, they are coordinating with the National Office of Emergencies and Information (ONEMI) to access the needs at hospitals and clinics.  Currently the International Medical Corp is gathering medicine, supplies and preparing more emergency response teams.  Teams of volunteer doctors and nurses are currently on standby ready to leave for Chile as needed.   Please help these men and women by donating to ensure they are able to help those in Chile.

Shelter Box is an international organization founded by Tom Henderson, a former Royal Navy search and rescue diver, in April of 2000.  Henderson saw that aid response to disaster areas was mainly food and medicine to help people initially survive.  He knew that there wasn't much assistance in the area of proper shelter to survive while the victims began to rebuild their lives.  Henderson launched Shelter Box to help those in need of shelter.

Each box contains a ten person tent that are designed to hold up to extreme weather conditions.  Along with the tents, there are other needed items such as thermal blankets, a basic tool kit (i.e. hammer, axe, etc), and mosquito nets (for areas with malaria). Henderson understands that people need heat as well so he believed it was necessary to include a stove for cooking and to stay warm. There are also pans, utensils, bowls and water storage containers. For the children, there are coloring books, crayons and pens to help put a smile on their face after they have lost so much.  Both the U.K. and U.S. locations have teams on the way to Chile now. Please take a look at this organization to see how you could help.

Donating via text message

If you want to donate by text message remember that your donation will be added on to your cell phone bill.  Currently, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile have waved any fees to promote people to donate to the relief effort.  Please consider the following organizations when you donate.

• Text "Chile" to 25383 to donate $10 to Habitat for Humanity
• Text "Chile" to 20222 to donate $10 to World Vision
• Text "Rebuild" to 50555 to donate $10 to Operation USA
• Text "Chile" to 5200 to donate $10 to the Salvation Army
• Text "Chile" to 85944 to donate $10 to the International Medical Corps
• Text "Youth" to 20222 to donate $10 to UNICEF

Image thanks to Diegosaurius Rex