Blake Barker, a Loudoun County barbecue entrepreneur, saw televised scenes of the devastation caused by the South Asian tsunami and decided to donate his revenue for the next two months to the American Red Cross.
For a fledgling company, it will be a stretch, said Barker, 53, who owns the two-year-old Texacan Beef & Pork Co. in Ashburn. But "there are times in your life that you feel that you need to stick your neck out and give back for what you've already received," he said, "and this is the time for us to do that."
Blake Barker will send the proceeds from his barbecued brisket, pulled pork and other dishes from Ashburn to South Asia.
(Gerald Martineau -- The Washington Post)
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Across the Washington area, thousands of residents are making similar decisions. Buddhist temples, nightclubs, sandwich shops, senior citizens, schoolchildren, corporations, mosques, churches, restaurants, yoga schools -- all have launched efforts to raise money to help the tsunami victims.
At such a time, said Jay Chen, publisher of Asian Fortune, a monthly newspaper that will hold a fundraiser Jan. 15, "we are all Asian."
Worldwide, more than $163 million in donations has poured into private charities since the tsunami struck, according to a tally yesterday by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. The money is expected to keep coming now that former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton have been named to head a nationwide fundraising effort. In addition, NBC plans to air an hour-long telethon for the victims Jan. 15.
Those involved in the effort credit the contributions in part to the lingering emotional impact of one of the most devastating events in American history -- the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"Especially after September 11, I think that sensitivities have been heightened," said David Butler, president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, which has raised $200,000 for tsunami relief efforts. "People are really understanding of the needs of those who suffer in disasters."
Much of the Washington area's fundraising impetus is coming from its large Asian immigrant communities. The area is home to more than 360,000 Asians and Pacific Islanders.
Collecting money is easier than sitting helplessly in front of the television, said Reshma Patel, president of NetSAP, a networking group of about 400 South Asian professionals. The group will have its first fundraiser Friday at a D.C. nightclub, the Vida Lounge, and plans more, Patel said.
"Since a lot of us can't go over there," Patel said, "raising money is probably the only way to involve our community."
Rizwan Mowlana, a Gaithersburg marketing consultant who lost at least 40 relatives in Sri Lanka, collected enough donated goods to fill five 40-foot-long containers, which he shipped yesterday to his native land.
Mowlana plans to follow this week to help coordinate the distribution of the aid, which includes more than $2 million in medical supplies, canned goods, water, clothing, toys and blankets.
Mowlana said it's a way to channel his grief.
"This is the only way I can put everything into a positive force," said Mowlana, who paid the $10,000 shipping cost.
The Washington Buddhist Vihara, a Northwest Washington temple that is the spiritual home for many Sri Lankans, has raised more than $20,000 for Sri Lankan temples and other groups in the country, said Susan Anderson Singh, executive secretary of the temple.
"People are just walking in the door and handing in a check or money and saying, 'What do you need?' " Singh said. "And these are people who are poor."
Religious groups of all faiths are also commemorating the victims and trying to help the survivors. The Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring has raised $50,000 and held an interfaith prayer service last night to remember those who lost their lives. The money will go to international relief agencies as well as some charities in the countries affected, board member Faraz Zubairi said.
Former tourists with warm memories of their journeys to South Asian countries are marshaling their personal and professional networks for the cause.
D.C. restaurateur Mark Furstenberg, who visited Sri Lanka in 1999, has rounded up two dozen chefs, such as Roberto Donna and Michel Richard, for a Feb. 3 benefit at his restaurant, the BreadLine. Furstenberg said he felt compelled to help after seeing TV footage of the devastated Sri Lankan countryside.
"I felt so awful," he said. "It just seemed so unfair that people who have so little would suffer so much."
The pace at which the money has been raised is startling.
Bethesda telecommunications consultant Raj Sanmugalingam collected $25,000 from 100 people at a fundraiser at his home Thursday. The money will go to the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, a Maryland group that works in Sri Lanka, he said.
At Pyle Middle School in Bethesda yesterday, $1,600 came in when the school's Student Government Association went to classrooms collecting money, SGA adviser Jennifer Thorson said.
And the 350 people attending a concert at New Life Seventh-day Adventist Church in Gaithersburg on New Year's Day contributed $2,600 when organizers passed the hat.
America Online employees pledged $130,000 to relief efforts, AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham said.
"We've never seen this kind of immediate and very thoughtful and very heartfelt response from our employees," he said, adding that AOL will match those gifts and made a corporate donation of $200,000 to the Red Cross.
Residents of the Bedford Court senior citizen residence in Silver Spring starting raising money yesterday for tsunami relief. Manager Todd Margulies said he doesn't know how much will come in. Whatever it is, he said, "we're doing our little part."
Staff writer S. Mitra Kalita contributed to this report.
