Nuccia and I have decided to start a collection for those poor victims of the earthquake in Italy...

If you would like to add to our collection your donation will be more than welcome. The amount doesn't matter - large or small - every €uro, Dollar or Pound will count.

We plan to send it to this small LOCAL charity where it can be used immediately:
The Arci is in constant liaison with the leaders of the Abruzzo region, is closely following the developments of the situation after the terrible earthquake in Abruzzo that has already caused several hundred deaths. At the moment fundraising will be used for initiatives that the association will field.

>THIS< is the collection we will send our donations to.
For those who don't know - ARCI run the famous 'circolo's that are found in most Italian towns and they are run 'by the people - for the people' - who better to know where donations will do the most good?

So, if you would like to donate, just use the Gente Donation Button which can be found on the side bar of all pages.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU MARK YOUR PAYMENT AS
'DONATION-EARTHQUAKE'

I'm sorry but it would appear that you cannot mark the donation form as 'Donation - Earthquake'.
So if you donate, can you please send me (Carole) a Private Message to say you have donated and your name. I will then be able to separate the 'earthquake' donations from the others.
I'm very sorry for the confusion...

We will post a closing date for donations (probably Easter Sunday) and advise you of the amount being sent on your behalf...

May we thank you in anticipation...

C & N

The total donated to our "Gente" fund raising was $75 and Nucca and I added a further €50 ($65).

Following discussions with the two donors it was decided to donate our "Gente" gift via another forum fund to which I belong. The main reason for doing so was to be able to increase our total because the other fund is paid through the UK and the government adds a % to all donations if a UK taxpayer is involved (me....). So this meant that our donation of £94 was increased to £120.51 courtesy of the 'bonus'. The equivalent of $178.30. We though that was a better deal for the victims of the earthquake.

I have linked the donation sheet here and as you can see, our donation is the second down and is shown as "With best wishes from the "Gente di Mare" Genealogy Membership!

This amount will be going - via the Red Cross - directly to Abruzzo and nowhere else.

>Earthquake Fund<



But the Italy Mag Fund raisers have - in just over a week, managed to raise a grand total for those needy people in Abruzzo.

Total donated online: £6,190.21
Amount raised offline: £0.00
Gift Aid plus supplement: £1,277.41

TOTAL: £7467.62

Which is a magnificent $11,049.

We are very aware that many of our members will have, quite rightly, donated privately and so it just remains for Nuccia and I to pass our sincere thank you to our two "Gente" donors here.

I'm bumping this on purpose today - we need NOT to forget these folks! I did a repost on my blog today too - they are STILL in tents and out of work - figure it out - not easy in bad economy to live without a job and no house, no furniture, no clothes, yucky food! And the children are miserable - many are traumatized too! I will give Berlusconi credit for suggesting the G8 Summit in July is held near here to save money and make a point to others about spending money in this region to help them out. I am hoping it also means the journalists will take time to showcase the area in reports too!
edited because I can't spell July... sigh

Thank you for reminding us that this isn't over yet and these poor people have a long way to go before they will have any type of normalcy in their lives.

As for spelling..I had to correct one post today in which I made 7 spelling mistakes!