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Hikosaemon/CC
Smoke rises from a burning building in a Tokyo neighborhood after an 8.9-magnitude earthquakes hit Japan, March 11, 2011.

In the wake of the worst earthquake in Japan’s history, and the subsequent tsunamis impacting nations across the Pacific, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago has opened an emergency mailbox to provide humanitarian aid to the survivors on the ground.

Funds primarily will be distributed through the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), with its 97-year history of providing compassionate, effective emergency relief to the non-Jewish world, and IsraAID, the coordinating body of Israeli charities devoted to global relief work.

100% of collected funds will go directly to aid the victims; the Jewish Federation will absorb any administrative costs.

Individuals can contribute online, by phone at 312.444.2869 or by mail, making checks payable to: Jewish Federation Pacific Earthquake/Tsunami Relief Fund, c/o Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, 30 S. Wells St., Room 3023, Chicago, IL 60606

"Our community has a tremendous track record of providing timely, non-sectarian relief through a Jewish conduit in the wake of disasters throughout the U.S. and worldwide,” said Jewish Federation President Steven B. Nasatir. “As the Chicago Jewish community’s central address for meeting human needs, the Federation is proud to provide a vehicle for emergency relief from our community.”

In recent years, the Jewish Federation also has provided critical aid to those affected by the catastrophic earthquakes in Haiti, China and South Asia; the massive forest fires in Northern Israel; Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the Gulf coast, the devastating tsunami in South Asia; wildfires in California; and the September 11 terror attack on the U.S.