LGBT aid group gets help to Burma

The world is still watching as horrible pictures continue to emerge sporadically from Burma, where a powerful cyclone hit May 3, killing over 28,000 people instantly, according to media reports. As many as 1.5 million people have been affected by the crisis, left without food, clean water, or homes.

Immediately after the disaster, relief organizations around the world began organizing funds and aid for the people of Burma. However, the assistance process has been slowed to a trickle by the reigning military junta, which has largely refused to allow the organizations to distribute their own supplies. The junta has also mostly refused entry visas to members of the press. The United States has been allowed in with a couple planes of goods, but the military government of Burma, which now calls the country Myanmar, has been slow to distribute the items, and according to news accounts this week, is giving people spoiled food.

But one local nonprofit group, Rainbow World Fund, wants the community to know that donations are needed and it is finding solutions to these problems.

"We formed several international partnerships with relief organizations, and we look long-term," said Jeff Cotter, executive director. "Our partner for years has been CARE. CARE has 500 staff members that reside in [Burma]. They've been able to help thousands of people already with water and rice, they've been working on getting some diesel pumps going, and they're providing emergency care."

CARE, which stands for Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere Inc., is a well-known humanitarian organization based in Atlanta.

RWF works with the LGBT community and allies to provide humanitarian aid where it's needed. It was named the organization grand marshal in last year's San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade. The group is entirely run by volunteers, including Cotter, who spends 40 hours a week working on the fund on top of his full-time job as a social worker.

"I started Rainbow World Fund in 2000," Cotter said, "because of my deep concern for the state of the world. I decided to start where I was, as a gay man living in San Francisco. I wanted to tap into our community's strength, to help others, and to change the public's misperceptions of gay people, that we only care about sex, drugs, and materialism. What we do is we contribute by working with the LGBT community to raise awareness and promote philanthropy for world humanitarian relief. We're providing a platform and united voice for LGBT compassion to be heard throughout the world."

The organization raised $250,000 for survivors of the 2005 tsunami in Southeast Asia, and $400,000 for victims of Hurricane Katrina. However, Cotter said that it has been a struggle to raise money for victims in Burma, as potential donors are hearing that the government may not be accepting their aid.

"It's been hard because of the military junta," Cotter said. "If you compare this to the tsunami, within 48 hours, an air blitz was established, and we're at day nine now and it's just being established."

However, the RWF has already raised about $10,000, all of which is being distributed through CARE.

"Deaths will happen now from diarrhea, dehydration, malnutrition," Cotter said. "There are a huge amount of people suffering from long-term exposure, and thousands and thousands of people are dealing with wounds they received from flying debris. That's a really big problem right now which could potentially double the amount of people who die if they don't receive care very quickly."

To contribute, visit http://www.rainbowfund.org/donate.