We have received a desperate plea for cash donations from the Los Angeles Honduran consulate, Vivian Panting. Truckloads of food and medical supplies sit in Los Angeles storage facilities waiting to be shipped. Chartering a 727 costs upwards of $170,000. Commercial airlines are not going to the area. The Chiquita Banana Company has offered to ship relief goods to Central America from Miami, but how do the goods get to Miami? There is a great deal of confusion and political variables that compound the disaster.
We have been working with the Honduran consulate for the past week. She is overwhelmed with the reality that “my people are dying.” The Hondurans have been the hardest hit country in Central America, where 9000 persons have perished, 13,000 are missing, and 80 percent of the country and farmlands have been destroyed.
Negotiations are taking place between the four Central American countries involved, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador to divide the donations on a per need basis. Some of the high profile and highly efficient groups such as “Project USA” as seen on KCET’s “Life and Times” are focusing exclusively on Nicaragua. That is why we want to do what we can for the Honduran relief effort. We are a totally volunteer effort working directly with the Honduran Consulate — 100 percent of the funds we collect will go directly to them to be used to deliver emergency relief to Honduras.
If you can, please act now with a tax-deductible contribution to “Earth Trust Fund” (designate for Honduran Emergency Relief) and mail to: Earth Trust Foundation/Honduras, P.O. Box 6022 Malibu, CA 90264. (Please note 90264 is correct.) Cash or check donations can also be left at the Mail Boxes, Etc. next to the Malibu Hughes Market.
If you have questions or would like to help distribute flyers (or have a friend with a 727), call Valerie at 310-457-5202, Mona at 310-457-1614, or Oscar at his VM – 213-690-1841 now.
Thank you for reading this appeal.
Valerie Sklarevsky
Mona Loo
Oscar Mondragon