Red Cross Quake Donations Can be Tracked Online

Donations to the Qinghai earthquake fund made via the Red Cross Society of China can now be tracked online, Beijing Evening News reported on April 26, 2010.

People can follow the progress of donations to the quake relief fund by typing in the donor's name, the amount, and the date of the donation.

The Chinese public became increasingly concerned about the fate of charitable donations after misappropriation scandals following the May 12th 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province.

After the Sichuan earthquake, the Red Cross Society of China received a huge number of donations but was criticized afterwards for delays in information disclosure.

Zha Huiqin, head of the Red Cross finance department, said that in the past two years, the Red Cross has been working hard to improve its transparency and openness.

"The Red Cross Society of China accepts donations in five ways: on site, via banks, the post office, the Internet and SMS," said Zha. "Apart from online and post office donations that are handled by our partners, information on other donations will be on our website within two days. This is much quicker than at the time of the Sichuan earthquake."

Zha said donors should give their name, address and zip code to charity workers.

The Red Cross has set up a "green channel" for organizations and individuals who donate more than RMB 500,000 (US$73,238). A charity worker will contact them directly, ask where they want their funds to be allocated and keep them informed throughout the whole process.

On April 14, 2010, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in northwest China's Qinghai Province, leaving more than 2,200 dead. So far, around RMB 8 billion (US$1.71 billion) has been collected in quake relief funds.

(Source: China.org.cn)