Greening Hollywood: Clooney, Cheadle Gang Watching Out for the Little Ones

Crisis in Burma (Myanmar)

Clooney and Cheadle's non-profit Not On Our Watch has awarded $250,000 to children in Myanmar through Save the Children to provide for the critical needs of children and their families in Myanmar devastated by recent Cyclone Nargis.

Not On Our Watch will match contributions of up to an additional $250,000 for every dollar donated to Save the Children's Cyclone Nargis emergency relief work for the next year through May 13, 2009. Save the Children (www.savethechildren.org) creates lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world.

This leading independent organization, in the past week, has provided lifesaving supplies of clean water, food and shelter to 100,000 people. Of those 40,000 were children under the age of 12 in twelve townships of Yangon and the Irrawaddy delta region. Supplies have included rice, water, oral-rehydration solution to treat diarrhea, blankets and materials for cooking and shelter.

Save the Children has worked in Myanmar since 1995. It has a staff of 500 - almost all local nationals - who implement programs focused on early childhood care and development, child health and survival and child protection.

Save the Children is seeking $10 million in donations for its emergency response and recovery efforts in Myanmar. As of Monday, May 12th they had raised more than $3 million in donations and pledges.

Not On Our Watch (www.notonourwatchproject.org) seeks to stop mass atrocities around the world by focusing global attention and resources on issues. They have also been active in Darfur, Sudan. The non-profit is headed by George Clooney, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Jerry Weintraub and David Pressman. They seek to generate life-saving assistance and protection for the vulnerable, marginalized and displaced.

This from New Yorkers for a Department of Peace:

All of us need "to get educated about the history and plight of the Burmese people who have been struggling for democracy for decades. Their elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is a Noble Peace Prize recipient who has been under house arrest (by the military junta) ever since she won democratic elections overwhelmingly in 1990.

Here are some organizations that support the Burmese people in various ways:

If you wish to donate, two additional organizations to consider are World Food Program - they were in Burma before the cyclone and appear well positioned to help the victims of the cyclone directly.

Avaaz is collecting money for the monks inside Burma to help them distribute to the people most in need.

LEARN MORE:
http://nobelprize.org
http://www.freeburmacoalition.org/
http: //burmaitcantwait.org
http://www.actionburma.com/
http://www.voicesforburma.org