Help Domestic, International Disaster Relief by Donating to AAFP Foundation

If you've watched news coverage of the ongoing floods in the Midwest or the recent disasters in China and Myanmar and wondered how best to help, here's a quick and easy way to do it: Donate to the AAFP Foundation. You can select the type of disaster aid donation you wish to make, and the funds will be used accordingly.

To help victims of the recent Midwestern floods, click on the button for "Disaster Relief" and then indicate that the donation is for victims of those floods in the "Any additional comments" box at the bottom of the form. Your donation will go to the Red Cross for that purpose, says Brenda Cherpitel, the foundation's director of individual development.

You can help family physicians whose practices have been wiped out by domestic disasters by typing "Disaster Assistance Program" in the comments box. Constituent chapters who become aware of family physicians needing such assistance can help them through the request process, says Cherpitel.

To help victims of the recent disasters in China and Myanmar, click on the Disaster Relief button, then indicate the donation is for those disasters in the comments box. Your donation will be distributed equally to two organizations, Heart to Heart International and the International Medical Corps. Both groups have access to the devastated areas in China and Myanmar, Cherpitel says. Many members already have responded to those international disasters, says AAFP Foundation President Mark Belfer, D.O. "The foundation appreciates the outpouring of support these members have made. Family physicians continue to respond when there is need. To date, $14,000 has been contributed and distributed to Heart to Heart International and International Medical Corps."

More information on AAFP Foundation disaster relief activities is available online.