Aid Still RequiredIts been 12 years since the 2004 Tsunami that took 260,000 lives, affected 12 countries and over 5 million people. That day, when Hunter and I heard the news, realized that friends of ours were on the ground in Phuket, Thailand, and might not be alive, we made the fateful decision which set us on the path of eventually creating Aid Still Required. Along the way, we’ve met remarkable people, including nurse and filmmaker Alison Thompson of The Third Wave Volunteers. Alison went to Sri Lanka for two weeks to offer aid and stayed for more than a year.…
Thank you for 2013 and looking ahead to 2014
What a year 2013 has been! Aid Still Required has seen incredible growth and achieved major accomplishments: In Haiti, we began our support and guidance of OADENN, a children’s mentoring and support program in the northern city of Cap Haitien. The program is working with over 100 kids weekly and provides everything from educational counseling, medical care, and team building, to safe places for play, yoga and meditation. Heading into 2014, we aim to establish a physical center for expanded programming, to increase enrollment, and to support more kids going to school and receiving medical care.
How You Helped the Community Tsunami Early Warning Center in Sri Lanka
We just received word that the funds Aid Still Required sent to the Community Tsunami Early Warning Center (CTEC) in Sri Lanka have been put to good use! CTEC is an incredibly important facility for the people of Sri Lanka. If the system had been in place before the 2005 tsunami, many of the 2500 lives lost that day may have been saved. The Center is helping to protect the villages of Peraliya, Thelwatta, Seenigama and Dalwathamullah and the goal is to expand the warning system in order to protect the entire coastline. In addition, there is an educational component…
8th Anniversary of the Southeast Asia Tsunami
It has been 8 years since the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia took an estimated 230,000 lives. It was one of worst natural disasters of our time and the region is still recovering from the devastation. Even as the physical structures are rebuilt and the land is cleaned up, the impact on the hundreds of thousands affected by the tsunami will never go away. This week, the team here at Aid Still Required went and saw the film The Impossible, starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts. It documents the true story of the Belon family’s experiences in Thailand on December 26,…
Rosemarie McCaffery Antiques Hosts Benefit for Aid Still Required
Thank you to all those who made it out to Rosemarie McCaffery Antiques last week to support ASR’s existing projects in Haiti, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, in Chad with the Darfuri refugees living there, and in New Orleans. It was a beautiful event thanks to Robert Ross who gave a moving talk on why ASR’s work is so important (maybe we will be able to post a copy of his talk on the ASR blog!), to Cathie Ross, Irene Mink and Rosemarie McCaffery for their tireless work in preparing the beautiful setting and to all the volunteers who made the evening so enjoyable. In…
Aid Still Required and World Water Day – Send a Tsunami of Love to Indonesia
-from the desktop of Maureen Charles, ASR Board Secretary Today is World Water Day, and in Aceh, Indonesia, where an estimated 160,000 people perished and over a million were displaced in the wake of the 2004 Tsunami, thousands of people have been without safe, clean, accessible water for over 7 years. Imagine all that ocean water rushing over your land, taking the leaves of your loved ones, and leaving you with no livelihood, and ironically, without water. Imagine going 7 years without a shower, unable to pour yourself or your child a glass of water without first hauling it for miles in heavy jugs or buckets……
Aid Still Required Collaborator Alison Thompson Featured in Guideposts Magazine
In January’s Guidepost inspirational magazine, ASR collaborator and friend Alison Thompson shares the story of how she found her new vocation of passionate volunteer and shines the light on five areas around the world that she feels need our help the most. Hunter and Andrea met Alison in 2007 as they got more deeply involved in the work that became AId Still Required. Utlizing her nurse’s training as a first responder in the months following 9/11 changed Alison’s life and when the 2004 Southeast Asian tsunami hit, her two week trip to offer aid turned into a 14 month Sri…
7th Anniversary of the Southeast Asia Tsunami- We Remember
Today we remember all the lives that were lost seven years ago…and Aid Still Required is proud to stand beside survivors as they move forward in their lives. In Aceh, we are working with local NGO partner Yayasan Lamjabat to develop self-sufficency and ecological awareness through reforestation, small business training for women, and clean water. In YL’s work with village farmers, the tree planting not only provide fruit and spices for nourishment and sale, it also improves water tables, stops soil erosion, and assists in halting climate change. ASR also supports local women’s empowerment through handicrafts and small business training.…
Send A Tsunami of Love Around the World with Aid Still Required
Today marks the 6th anniversary of the December 2004 tsunami, 230,000 people across 12 countries killed in minutes, whole villages lost, millions displaced. Sitting in our kitchen in Santa Monica, CA, the day after Christmas, waiting to hear if friends in Thailand were alive, Hunter and I asked the question “What can we do to help?”, the question which turned into the creation of The Aid Still Required All-Star CD compilation, and the question that set us on the adventure to ultimately founding Aid Still Required as a 501c3 nonprofit. Our mission: championing forgotten people and issues and keeping the…
Today’s the Day -Great Music for A Great Cause Now Available Here and on the Web
The Aid Still Required CD shines the spotlight on Tsunami Recovery and issues that have fallen out of the headlines. The Deluxe Super Green CD (veggie dye n everything!) is available on The ASR website and is now downloadable from your favorite digital online retailer!
Father’s Day Pledge
At Aid Still Required, part of our mission is that fathers everywhere have the resources to provide for their families. Would you help? Honor your dad and Be an Angel – pledge $10 monthly minimum – and receive our All-Star CD as a gift. Purchase the Deluxe Eco–Edition CD for $15 plus tax and shipping. Download the CD June 22nd from iTunes/Amazon and other digital retailers.
Ways You Can SkyRocket Our CD Launch!
Hello, World! The CD release is only 9 days away!!! Can you help us make a difference? We cannot underestimate the passion of people making a difference, to feel empowered that they can transform lives by buying a CD, by sharing their excitement with everyone on their list and encouraging them to download, buy a CD, and contribute. WAYS YOU CAN ASSIST: Engage email databases – your own or someone elses’s who is willing to do a personal appeal on behalf of the forgotten people ASR represents. Ask people to download/purchase the CD and spread Ask people to Be an…
The CD is On Its Way!!!!
We are in the throes of preparing for our CD launch June 22nd. It is such an exciting moment, the opportunity to bring Aid Still Required onto the national/international scene so that we may have the privilege of truly fulfilling upon our mission…making a real difference for those no longer the latest media headline….and in particular with this CD, lending a hand to the tsunami survivors of SouthEast Asia. For those of you who are new to us……this project is five and a half years in the making – from a thought which bubbled up from hearts opened by tremendous tragedy…
5th Anniversary of the Dec. 26th Tsunami
Today, we create space… …to remember those lost 5 years ago this day due to the tsunami. ASR’s heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to those who are, for any and all reasons, grieving the memory of that day. We want to take this moment now to grieve with you, to remember, and to rededicate our commitment to the undeniable truth that…aid IS still required.
The Third Wave – Volunteering in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami
September 22nd marked the LA premiere and Academy Awards qualifying screening of the documentary, The Third Wave. Made by ASR friend, Alison Thompson and her producing partner Oscar Gubernati, The Third Wave chronicles their experiences volunteering in Sri Lanka after the tsunami. It is a spectacular cinema-verite film, depicting the human reality of what it was like in the days, weeks, and months following the disaster. In 2008, after seeing an early cut of the film, Sean Penn asked for a special screening at Cannes when he was head of jury there. The film is scheduled to open nationally in…
ASR’s FIRST MAJOR FUNDRAISING EVENT – “A Night of Culture for a Cause”
“June 20th” quickly became an ASR household buzzword with weeks of tireless preparation, culminating into A Night of Culture for a Cause. Actress and ASR friend Barbara Bosson hosted the fete at her stunning Pacific Palisades home. Thanks to Marble Arch Fine Afts and the Cracking Art Group, guests were greeted by eco-friendly, larger-than-life animal sculptures made out of recycled plastic, highlighting ASR’s commitment to environmental issues. Animals included giant bulldogs and terriers, oversized sneaker-wearing chihuahuas, goats, giraffes, and alligators. ASR’s various projects in the tsunami region in Southeast Asia, Sudan, and New Orleans were featured on displays in the…
Maroon 5 Adds Track to Tsunami CD!
A gorgeous, live, acoustic version of their hit “She Will Be Loved,” which will fit beautifully with the other live tracks on the record. Thank you to Adam, Jesse, James, Mickey, Matt and their manager Jordan Feldstein!