Helping Italy's Earthquake Victims

As many of you know, my heart is often still in Italy. For two years, I worked and lived in Florence and grew to have a deep love for the country and its people. On April 6th, my heart was sad as I read report after report of a horrible earthquake that happened within its borders killing and injuring many. I wondered what could I do to help. Prayer was number one and is still the number one way, but below I've attached a letter from a sweet Italian lady I worked with, letting you know of another way you can tangibly help the victims of the Abruzzo Earthquake.

HELP FOR EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS IN ABRUZZO
Abruzzo is a beautiful mountainous area with vegetation that takes glorious colors in autumn. The air is fresh and its people are simple, kind but strong.

I know it well, my mother was born in Avezzano (in the province of L’ Aquila) and my relatives still live there. My mother told me many times of the big earthquake that completely destroyed her city, and how the earth trembles often in that region. The earthquake struck L’Aquila again and its province at 3.00 a.m. on Monday, April 6. The earthquake measured 5,8 degrees on the Richter scale. The tremble was clearly felt in the whole of central Italy.

The people of Abruzzo are demure, brave and full of dignity. This stands out from the images and the interviews on radio and television. But the cry of desperation arises from the rubble of the houses, the many ancient public buildings and the beautiful churches partially or completely destroyed .

People wander lost on the roads with the few things that they managed to take away at night. Many sleep in the tents that the rescuers have provided. Others, especially those who still have hope to find their loved ones under the debris, prefer to sleep in their cars, next to their damaged houses. The nights are still very cold in this province. The last assessment from the Civil Defence reports that there are 287 ascertained deaths, among them many children. Unfortunately, this is not a definitive number. The digging in search for survivors continues.

The example of Eleonora, 20 years old, extracted alive from the rubble after 42 hours has rekindled the strength of the fire fighters. They still hope to find four more missing students within the Hall of Residence at the university. As time goes by the chances are less and less. The search for the30 missing people will continue for another 48 hours and then they will be added to the victims list. The wounded are over 1500 and there are around 28000 people who are misplaced.

Agape… in Action is launching a fund raising appeal designed for emergency aid (water, food, medicines, powdered milk, baby food, diapers…) to be distributed through the Federation of Evangelical Churches and Caritas.

You can send a contribution to Agape… in Action (Agape Italia’s Humanitarian Aid Ministry in one of these ways:

You may give by way of credit card, staff account transfer, or a U.S. check to a CCC account-- #2847510 in Orlando. Use the following link to contribute online: https://give.ccci.org
give/View/2847510.

You may also give cash through our Agape Italia bank account--
Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze,
Via Bufalini 4, IBAN IT45E0616002800000110119C00.
Specify for Earthquake in Abruzzo.

At this time a financial contribution represents our best efforts to help those who are hurting in Abruzzo. We will keep you informed as other avenues become available.

A heartfelt thank you,
Maria Beni