Donations for Rio flood victims

I just received an email from the Brazil Foundation. I don't particularly love the idea of just giving money to charity but the Instituto da Criança is accepting in-kind donations at their headquarters in Rio so just wanted to pass on the message. I'm just checking with the SP headquarters whether they will accept in-kind donations here too - a very good reason to go through Sophie's clothes and clear out things she can't wear anymore!



You may have seen the sad news of the heavy flooding in Rio de Janeiro. Indeed conditions are dire, the number of casualties is still rising, hundreds have lost their homes along with all their possessions and many of areas impacted are still unreachable.

Our partner organization Instituto da Criança(Children's Institute) is working on the ground in affected areas to alleviate the immediate impact of this tragedy. And they need your help. Instituto da Criança (IC) is well positioned to deliver aid to the victims in Rio de Janeiro, as one of its core sponsored programs - Recicla Vida - is located in one of the most severely affected communities, Itaipava. The IC's own headquarters in Rio are serving as a drop-off location for in-kind donations.

IC's founder Pedro Werneck reports from Rio: "We are mobilizing corporate and individual supporters to enable us to acquire a variety of vital supplies such as food, cleaning and personal hygiene products, refrigerators, stoves, clothing, mattresses - any useful items."

Monetary commitments from the United States will be immediately applied toward the acqusition and delivery of emergency supplies; over the longer term, the facilities of Recicla Vida will need to be almost completely rebuilt - an apt metaphor for the lives of so many survivors in the region.

Please consider making a contribution online for the benefit of IC under the auspices of the BrazilFoundation at: www.childrensinstitutebr.org

For more information, please call BrazilFoundation at 212-244-3663.

The Children's Institute or "IC" is an NGO founded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1994 dedicated to promoting social change and sustainable development through social entrepreneurship for the benefit of under-served children and their families.