PORT TOWNSEND — Two weeks ago, Joanie Beldin heard on the radio that people in Seattle were collecting outdoor gear to send to quake-ravaged Pakistan and thought: “We have some things to send over.”
Then she thought: “We could take more than our things over,” and put the word out to friends.
Last week, Beldin helped pack mountains of tents, sleeping bags and warm jackets, donated by people from Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend who wanted to help.
“It took off on a life of its own,” Beldin said.
The relief effort originated with the American Alpine Association as a way to help the estimated 3.5 million homeless people left homeless by the earthquake survive the winter.
Aid workers have warned that cold weather in the Himalayan foothills, where temperatures have already fallen below freezing, may claim more lives after the magnitude-7.6 earthquake Oct. 8 left about 87,000 people dead.
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How to help
TO MAKE A cash donation, send a check made out to The American Alpine Club, marked “Pakistan relief,” c/o Nigel Gregory, The American Alpine Club, 710 10th St., Suite 100, Golden, CO 80401. Donations are tax deductible, and 100 percent goes to the relief effort.
Online, donations can be made at americanalpineclub.org.
