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Mercy-USA Joins Relief Interactive
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan.9, 2001) Online crisis relief organization, Relief Interactive (REACT) today teams with relief agency, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development (Mercy-USA), to enable readers of online news media to make instant donations to crisis relief efforts. Mercy-USA joins the growing list of relief agencies participating with REACT. REACT is a non-profit interactive organization created to provide online news media with simple, interactive technology that allows their readers to contribute directly to disaster relief organizations the moment they read online about a disaster. Relief Interactive currently is working to secure additional charities and online media partners. "REACT is based on a simple, yet powerful idea - people need an easy way to contribute to crisis relief efforts when they read about them online," said Umar al-Qadi of Mercy-USA. "Our new relationship with REACT will increase our financial resources to help alleviate human suffering in crisis situations. Now, people who read about crisis relief efforts online will be able to help out immediately - with just a few strokes on their keyboards." Dr. Brady Brown, President and Founder of REACT, said, "We're proud to have Mercy-USA on board. Mercy-USA has a history of making a difference to people in disaster situations, and we know REACT can strengthen and broaden that impact by increasing Mercy-USA's exposure within the Internet news media." Through REACT's click-through service on news media Web sites, individuals will be able to make secure credit card donations directly to the non-profit organization of their choice during a crisis or disaster. "By providing a link directly from a crisis news article to a REACT crisis page, REACT will allow the online news reader to be 'one click away' from making a secure donation to a relief effort," said Brown. "We're not a replacement for other online philanthropy efforts, we're simply an easier venue for people to give, especially during crises and emergencies. The sheer number of people who read news and make online purchases creates an enormous potential to raise awareness of relief efforts and garner donations online." While many relief organizations have Web sites with the capability to take secure, online donations, an Internet user may spend several minutes surfing the Internet to find an organization that matches the user's cause and donation criteria. Since the average user's attention is approximately one minute per Web page visited, a lengthy search prevents many potential donors from following through on their notion to give. | |
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