Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 20:52:40 -0500
Reply-To: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject: Help BusDepot Donate to Tsunami Victims
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
I'm sure that by now most of you have heard of the tsunamis/earthquake in
Asia that have killed more than 23,000 people so far. Malaria and cholera
will probably now kill tens of thousands of the initial survivors. And
literally millions more - yes, millions - are severely injured and/or have
lost their homes and all of their belongings. Many of them were already the
poorest of the poor, and have now lost everything they have in life,
including their loved ones, even if they do survive the disaster. According
to the United Nations (quoted by the Associated Press), this may be the
worst natural disaster of modern times, and will certainly require the
biggest relief effort the world has ever seen. Said one U.N. aid worker, "We
are used to dealing with disasters in one country, but something like this
spread across many countries and islands is unprecedented. We have not had
this before." To put this tragedy in a U.S. perspective, the death toll at
the outset is almost ten times that of the 9/11 tragedy, and is climbing
rapidly.
The Bus Depot has always donated a portion of our profits to humanitarian
charities on an ongoing basis. (See http://busdepot.com/help.jsp#DONATIONS
.) But I feel that the severity of this disaster demands special attention.
So from now until New Years, 25 percent of the net profits of BusDepot.com
sales will be donated to Doctors Without Borders, to provide medical relief
for the victims of this tragedy.
You do not need to do anything special to request this when you place a
BusDepot order. It does not apply only to those who request it. We will
donate this amount from all sales, regardless of whether the person placing
the order knows about the donation or mentions it.
Of course you don't need to buy Vanagon parts in order to make a difference.
If you don't need any Vanagon parts, or simply want to donate more, you can
always donate directly to http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org or the
charity of your choice.
While we worry about trivialities like our Vanagons and the daily grind of
"western world" living, it's easy to forget that there are millions of
people in this world whose everyday lives are more horrible than the single
worst day that we will experience in our entire privileged lives. It is
unimaginable to see such tragedy befall those who already have so little to
begin with. We truly are the lucky ones.
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
www.busdepot.com
(215) 234-VWVW
_____________________________________________
Toll-Free for Orders by PART # : 1-866-BUS-DEPOT