Dear ICSA Members and Friends,

As all of you know, the massive earthquake in Sichuan on May 12, 2008 has been devastating to millions of people. Many of you may have already engaged in various forms of relief efforts.

ICSA has been working on setting up an earthquake relief fund, and has now established a partnership with Hand By Hand Education Foundation (HBHEF). With the approval from the ICSA Board of Directors, we have created the ICSA Earthquake Relief Fund within HBHEF. Our focus will be primarily on supporting needy students in the affected areas by helping them rebuild their schools and continue their education. The ICSA Earthquake Relief Fund has no overhead so that every dollar donated goes fully to the victim.

Unlike Red Cross, HBHEF is a personalized charitable organization registered in the US, and its mission is to support children with financial hardship in China. Now you can help the countless victims of the Sichuan earthquake by making a donation to the ICSA Earthquake Relief Fund set up within HBHEF. To learn more about HBHEF's successful stories, please visit http://www.hbhef.org (chinese version).

On behalf of ICSA, we ask you to contribute to the ICSA Earthquake Relief Fund to help earthquake survivors to get back on their feet. Please feel free to forward this call to non-ICSA members who may want to contribute to this fund.

     Jane-Ling Wang, Ph.D.
     ICSA President, 2008
     Department of Statistics
     University of California
     Email: wang@wald.ucdavis.edu

and

     Ming-Hui Chen, Ph.D.
     ICSA Executive Director, 2007-2009
     Department of Statistics
     University of Connecticut
     Email: mhchen@stat.uconn.edu

ICSA Fund is $00.00(As of May 28, 2008, 3:00pm EST), see Donor List

Donate to ICSA Fund for Sichuan Earthquake Relief
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Questions and Answers

1. I never heard HBHEF before, who is HBHEF?

Hand By Hand Education Foundation (HBHEF) (Website: http://www.hbhef.org) is a nonprofit, non-political, non-religious charity organization registered in the State of Michigan. The Foundation shall be operated under the laws of the state of Michigan. This corporation is organized exclusively for one or more of the purposes as specified in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or any corresponding provisions of any United States internal revenue law.

The mission of HBHEF is to allow students with financial hardship in China to continue and complete their studies from elementary to high school education. We intend to support as many students as we can by encouraging as many people as possible to contribute to this foundation. All working staffs of HBHEF are volunteers without receiving any compensation.

Upto update, through nearly 400 donors, HBHEF has supported 500 more needy students in China. These students may not be able to finish their K12 education without HBHEF's support. HBHEF also supported Sichuan earthquake relief, as of May 28, we have committed to supporting 121 students survived from the earthquake to finish their high school.

2. How to donate?

Donate Online through this page. Check for the middle section: "Donate to ICSA Fund for Sichuan Earthquake Relief".

Donate offline: Download the donation form (DOC) here, and send the form with your check to

    Hand By Hand Education Foundation
    c/o ICSA Earthquake Relief Fund
    336 Lenox Drive
    Canton, MI 48188

3. How to do company match through HBHEF?

Since company's gift matching programs are different from company to company, we will handle each company's match individually. If you know your company can match your donation, please find out your company gift matching policy first and then contact us through email: hbhef@yahoo.com.

4. Can my donation be tax deductible, and am I going to have a receipt?

Since HBHEF is a US 501(c)(3) charity organization, and your donation is not for goods and services of any kind. Your donation is tax deductible in US. If your donation is less than $250, as per IRS, you just need to keep the check copy, or a record of credit card transaction. If your donation is more than $250, you will be given a receipt from HBHEF.

5. How will the ICSA Earthquake Relief Fund be distributed?

HBHEF will closely work with ICSA to collect donations from members, and the donation will be solely used to help needy students in the affected areas to continue their education. HBHEF's traditional model is to help needy students to finish their education to high school. Depending on the amount of donation, the ICSA Earthquake Relief Fund may be distributed as follows:

  • If donation collected from ICSA members is more than 50K USD, ICSA will work with HBHEF to distribute the money jointly, and preferably contribute the money to a school reconstruction (one-time use, may work with other organization and contribute in part).

  • If donation collected from ICSA members is less than 50K USD, HBHEF will use the donation to support individual students (elementary, middle school and high school) in the earthquake affected areas for 3 years. HBHEF will locate the students, and notify ICSA the students being supported.

    6. Who should I contact if I have questions?

    You may contact Ming-Hui Chen, Executive Director, International Chinese Statistical Association E-mail: mhchen@stat.uconn.edu, Phone: (860) 486-6984 or Meiling Gao, HBHEF President, E-mail hbhef@yahoo.com, Phone: 734-837-6896.