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Carriers, post-Haiti, enable 100pc text donations for Chile

By Jim Manis

MAUI, HI ? As circumstance would have it, I traveled to the island of Maui on the day before the horrible 8.8 earthquake that devastated much of Chile Saturday, Feb. 27.

At 6 a.m. Saturday morning, authorities issued the tsunami warning system with sirens blaring and helicopters clearing the beach throughout the day.

In the face of a truly tragic situation in Chile, the wireless industry once again has swiftly responded to the needs of those who are suffering in the wake of this natural disaster.

Carriers step up to the plate
Like Haiti, the major wireless carriers ? AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless ? have mobilized and provisioned short codes for use in mobile giving campaigns to help the victims of the Chilean earthquake.

These carriers also have eliminated standard-rate message charges that might have been associated with Chilean relief donations, and continue to process donations for all mobile giving campaigns on a 100 percent pass-through basis.

For me, the worries of an impending tsunami have subsided. The Hawaiian islands, along with the other areas that were feared to be affected, are safe.

For the victims in Chile, the danger continues with aftershocks.

My deep appreciation goes out to the carriers who have responded so quickly and to our authorized application service providers (ASPs) that have rapidly engaged with national non-governmental organizations to jumpstart relief efforts that should ease the strife in Chile.

The Mobile Giving Foundation will continue to work with our ASPs and NGOs throughout the coming weeks as more details emerge from Chile, more support programs are initiated and more mobile-giving programs are implemented.

Over the next week or two, we will make daily announcements of new mobile giving programs that are started to help the people of Chile.

Sadly, devastating events such as the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile will continue to happen.

But as an industry, we have institutionalized a process to speed donations from the public and perform monetary distributions to supportive NGOs as quickly as possible.

For this cooperation between carriers, ASPs, and NGOs, I am personally very grateful.


How to text donations for Chile disaster relief
As announced on the Mobile Giving Foundation?s site at http://www.mobilegiving.org:

A devastating earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, toppling homes, collapsing bridges and plunging trucks into the fractured earth. A tsunami set off by the magnitude-8.8 quake threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean ? roughly a quarter of the globe.

By texting a keyword to a designated short code via a mobile phone, a micro-donation of $5 or $10 can be made to aid the people affected by this tragedy. 100% of your donation goes to the recipient charity, and the donation appears as a charge on your carrier bill, standard rates may apply.

There are several organizations that are responding to this urgent need with mobile giving efforts, including the following:

Text the word ?CHILE? to 20222 to donate $10
On behalf of World Vision

Text the word ?CHILE? to 52000 to donate $10
On behalf of the Salvation Army

Text the word ?SAVE? to 20222 to donate $10
On behalf of Save the Children Federation Inc.

Text the word ?CHILE? to 85944 to donate $10
On behalf of International Medical Corp.

Jim Manis is chairman/CEO of the Mobile Giving Foundation, Bellevue, WA. Reach him at .