PWRDF accepts donations for Italy quake relief

The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) is accepting donations for victims of the powerful earthquake that devastated the medieval city of L’Aquila, in central Italy, and the surrounding areas on April 6.

As of April 9, the death toll from the earthquake rose to 283, according to CBC News. At least 1,000 people were injured and 17,000 others left homeless.”Affluent countries like Italy have more capacity and infrastructure to respond to emergencies than less affluent countries. PWRDF does, however, accept designated donations for disasters globally…and forwards them through an appropriate agency,” PWRDF said in a press statement.Donations for the Italy earthquake will be forwarded to Caritas Internationalis, the Roman Catholic church’s international aid and development organization. Caritas works closely with Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, a coalition that responds to natural disasters and humanitarian crises, of which PWRDF is a member.The earthquake, which struck in the early hours, flattened entire buildings. “In one tremor, whole streets came down. Even compared to previous earthquakes in 2002 and 1997, I’ve never seen such devastation,” Fr. Vittorio Nozza, director of Caritas Italiana, said on Caritas’ Web site, www.caritas.orgHe said that Caritas works among those left homeless, focusing in particular on children and the elderly. It set up a co-ordination centre outside L’Aquila “to collect and redistribute food, blankets, hygiene items and clothes,” said Caritas.Donations can be made online by visiting the PWRDF Web site, www.pwrdf.org; by telephone, (416) 924-9199 ext. 355/ toll free: 1 866 308 7973; or by mail, The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund, Anglican Church of Canada, 80 Hayden St., Toronto, ON, M4Y 3G2. Please mark cheques: “Earthquake in Italy.”