The tsunami was caused by a tremendous undersea earthquake, the largest in 40 years. It struck off the Indonesian Island of Sumatra and measured magnitude 9.0.

The Earth wobbled on its axis
Scientists say the earthquake was so severe that it caused the Earth to wobble on its axis and even shortened the day by a fraction of a second. The resulting tsunami measured as high as 35 feet above sea level when it struck, and moved on its path of destruction at over 500 mph. To put this in perspective consider that a Boeing 737 airliner cruises at 550 mph. The tsunami wreaked unimaginable death and destruction from Indonesia to Sri Lanka, and even to as far out as Africa.

The death toll is staggering
The death toll so far is staggering. The Red Cross currently estimates that at least 77,838 people have been killed. One official said that he expects the fatality number to exceed 100,000. Others are saying that in one area alone (the Indonesian province of Aceh) the death toll could rise to 80,000. So the final toll of those killed when the tsunami struck could far exceed 100,000. The World Health Organization said that up to 5 million people are now lacking the basic essentials to survive.

Many more will perish from disease
As if the horror of this natural disaster isn't enough, experts are also saying that many more people, particularly children and the elderly, are expected to die as a result of the disease that subsequently follows in the aftermath of disasters like this.

The tragedy will touch many people here in the USA
This tragedy did not physically touch the shores of the USA, but the latest estimates show that perhaps hundreds of those included in the death counts are United States citizens. And of course, as a nation that embraces many nationalities, many people in our cities, towns, and workplaces undoubtedly have family and friends who were devastated.

We started with The American Institute of Philanthropy
To find the organization that we could contribute to with confidence led us to The American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP), a non-profit watchdog organization that both rates and provides resources for evaluating charitable organizations. To our surprise, they had already rated a number of organizations (from A to F) in connection with the degree of direct and immediate impact the charity would provide to victims of the tsunami. Read their ratings at http://www.charitywatch.org/hottopics/tsunami_asia.html.

We chose AmeriCares
After reviewing the research done by The American Institute of Philanthropy, there was no question what our choice would be. We decided to give our entire $25,000 to AmeriCares — an organization where a high percentage of the funds it receives actually goes to help the people in need. AmeriCares also received a rating of "A" from the American Institute of Philanthropy. You can learn more about AmeriCares at http://www.americares.org. We wrote the check for $25,000 today and sent it overnight to AmeriCares.

Please join us
We ask that you consider joining us in helping to mitigate this disaster. Anything you can give (even a few bucks) would be helpful.