Local Businessman Urges Community To Help China Quake Victims
Posted
Tim Robertson-trobertson@timesuniononline.com
As soon as Warsaw businessman Jian Zhen heard about the earthquake that hit Sichuan Province, China, Monday, he began looking for a way to help.
Zhen was born in China and lived there until he was 15. He didn't live in the area affected by the earthquake, and he no longer has any family living in China. Rather, he said, it was the sheer magnitude of the disaster that caught his attention.The quake measured 7.9 on the Richter Scale. On Friday, the death toll had risen to more than 21,500, and the Chinese government said the number of dead is expected to exceed 50,000.
Zhen said footage of rescue workers searching for students in the wreckage of schools, which had collapsed in the quake, gave him a glimpse of the impact the quake will have on the people of his birth country.
"I've had tears in my eyes the last few days watching them dragging young people from under the rubble," he said. "It's people far away and we'll probably never meet them or anything, but, just look at those kids. Their lives will never be the same, never be what they used to be."
Watching the television news, Zhen said he was surprised to see western missionaries and volunteers helping to dig through the rubble left by the quake to rescue people who were trapped. He said that got him thinking that, though far away, Kosciusko residents could help make a difference to the earthquake victims.
"We're so far away, there's no way we can donate blood or dig in the rubble or anything else," Zhen said. "Right now, the best way we can help is to donate to the Red Cross."
Zhen said he called Larry Peppel, executive director of the Kosciusko County Red Cross, and found out he could donate to the Red Cross's China Relief Fund through the local chapter.
Zhen said he made a donation and then started thinking about how he could multiply that. He said he wants to get the word out to local individuals and businesses that their donations can make a difference.
"I would like to see if we as a community can help," he said.
Zhen said, when he moved to Warsaw from Guangdong Province, China, in 1985, he couldn't speak English very well and had to adapt to a new culture. Since then, he said he has learned a lot about the local community. He said he feels confident there are local people who want to help those suffering from the earthquake.
"This is a great community," he said. "Most of my life is in Warsaw, Indiana; I know this community and it's generous."
