I just received this note from a trusted friend who recently adopted a boy from an orphanage in Mianyang.

We have all seen the news of the devastating earthquake that struck southwest China on Monday, May 12th (links to maps and coverage below). What you may not know is that our adopted son, Peter YanNing, comes from the affected area. 13 months ago, our family met Peter for the first time and traveled through the mountains of Sichuan Province to visit Mianyang and Peter’s hometown north of Chengdu. What a beautiful and rugged part of China this is. Mianyang is 75 miles NE of the earthquake epicenter. Through our adoption agency representative in Chengdu, we were glad to learn yesterday that the children and staff at Peter’s orphanage near Mianyang are all fine. They moved outside to live in the open air for fear of aftershocks. See the note at the end of this email. Of course, many thousands of families and communities closer to the epicenter were not so fortunate.

and at the end of the note, he writes: To make a Donation for Chinese Orphanages in the Earthquake Area:

Our China adoption agency (CCAI) will route your donation directly to orphanages in the earthquake area. Type: ‘Earthquake Relief’ in the Specific Project line in the on-line donation form. As the largest China adoption agency in the US, CCAI has a long track record working with orphanages, an extensive network of representatives (including in Sichuan Province) and strong relations with the Chinese government. CCAI is a 501-3C charitable organization. I whole-heartedly endorse CCAI. http://www.chinesechildren.org/Sichuan_earthquake.aspx Make a Donation to the American Red Cross China Earthquake Relief Effort: http://www.redcross.org/news/in/profiles/Intl_profile_ChinaEarthquake.html#ARCResponse

* Disclaimer: some of the NGO/ Government Agencies that we are posting are unknown to us, and as such we encourage all donors/ volunteers to conduct your own research and due diligence prior to making donations.