News
Tech World Gives Millions To Help South Asia
$3.5M From Amazon Users, $3M From Bill & Melinda Gates
Dec. 30, 2004 12:00 AM
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - whose watchword is "We believe that the world's toughest problems can be solved - if we work together" - is giving $3M to help those struck by the natural disaster that's wreaked such havoc in South Asia. Amazon.com has helped channel even more, $3.5M so far, as the wider Internet community joins the emergency fund-raising effort.
According to company spokesman Craig Berman, by last night, there had already been 60,000 online donations via Amazon.com, and Microsoft's company offices in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India are already working with relief organizations, a spokeswoman said.
Microsoft is encouraging its employees to contribute too. Under an existing program, Microsoft matches charitable donations by its US staff.
About Jeremy GeelanJeremy Geelan is President & COO of Cloud Expo, Inc. and Conference Chair of the worldwide
Cloud Expo series. He appears regularly at conferences and trade shows, speaking to technology audiences both in North America and overseas. He is executive producer and presenter of Cloud Expo's "Power Panels" on SYS-CON.TV.
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DoTheMath! commented on 12 Jan 2005
Assuming the average person has 50K in the bank or available to them, to equal the generous contribution of the "Gates" Foundation would be like giving $10.00, or roughly .0002% of 15 billion (which is an old Gates net worth figure). Yeah how incredibly generous - right!
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Follow The Money commented on 31 Dec 2004
With all these millions pouring in, some companies must be making a *lot* of money right now. It's funny that ordinary people are asked to give, but those organisations with the necessary goods won't part with them unless they get this money.
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shame on ellison commented on 30 Dec 2004
Let's see how much Lartry Ellison gives, and scott mcnealy
Bill gates is way way ahead of them on this kind of issue...
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Just In Time commented on 30 Dec 2004
How fitting if at last the tech world started redistributing the wealth it has garnered over the past few decades...once this tsunami damage is dealt with, however many years that takesm perhaps we as a community can move on to other intractable problems that need $$$$ - landmines, for example. Dysentry. Poverty. Come on, let's make this the Turning Point.
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