UPDATE: Riverside Leaders Meet To Discuss Aid For Earthquake, Tsunami Victims

UPDATE 3/14/11 6:35 p.m.:

Community groups in Riverside today pledged their support in the form of cash, fuel and other commodities to help with rescue and recovery efforts in Japan's earthquake-devastated northern tier.

"This is an incredible tragedy, one of the worst in the history of the
world,'' said Jim Erickson, director of the La Sierra University Center for Philanthropy. "Our goal is simple: help the people of Japan and Sendai to the maximum extent possible.''

Sendai has been a sister city to Riverside since 1957. It was one of the
places hardest hit by Thursday's 8.9-magnitude quake. A tsunami triggered by the massive shaker led to widespread flooding in the city and its outlying villages.

Erickson, along with Riverside City Councilman Chris MacArthur and
several other civic and community leaders, held a meeting attended by roughly 100 people in the City Hall Ceremonial Room to discuss how best to get disaster aid to Sendai and other ruins.

Ted Honcharik, chairman of the nonprofit Riverside-based Fuel Relief Fund, asked for donations to buy petroleum for fuel-starved areas.

"After a disaster, it's always about food, water, shelter. But without
fuel, nothing happens,'' Honcharik said.

He said $50,000 in donations helped the Fuel Relief Fund supply fossil fuels to power generators at hospitals, orphanages and other critical facilities for more than 2 1/2 months following the January 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Honcharik plans to leave for Tokyo tomorrow, with the goal of purchasing a tanker truck to transport petrol to northern Japan.

Pam Anderson Humphrey, CEO of the Riverside County chapter of the American Red Cross, and Kevin McCarthy, president of the United Way of the Inland Valleys, said cash donations were vital.

"Money is the most effective tool right now,'' McCarthy said. "They
can use that to buy the supplies they need.''

A number of faith-based organizations were collecting funds and goods to send to the island nation.

Harvest Christian Fellowship, Cal Baptist University and the Diocese of San Bernardino's Catholic Relief Services office all had representatives on hand.   

Karin Roberts, executive director of Habitat for Humanity-Riverside,
said her group was trying to amass building materials to ship to Japan.

Irene Long with the Jurupa Citizen Corps, an all-volunteer organization that provides assistance during disasters, said members were planning to donate temporary cook stoves, water purification tablets and other basic necessities for hygiene.

Riverside fire Chief Steve Earley said the city's 72-member Urban Search and Rescue team was "ready to go at a moment's notice'' but had not been called upon yet by the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is coordinating overseas deployments. Earley said 11 units from across the country, including Los Angeles County's, were already deployed.

The city is considering a brief "Festival of Lights'' display downtown -
- a tradition normally reserved for the holidays -- to demonstrate its
solidarity with Sendai. The council may take up the matter during its Tuesday meeting.

Another meeting on relief efforts is scheduled next Monday at 3 p.m. in the Riverside City Council chamber.

Donations can be sent to the following groups:
   -- http://www.riversidecounty.redcross.org
   -- http://fuelrelieffund.org
   -- City of Riverside Sendai Relief Fund, Mayor's Office, 3900 Main St. --City News Service

ORIGINAL POST:

Riverside civic leaders will meet today to discuss sending aid to earthquake-ravaged northern Japan.

Sendai, hard hit by a tsunami in the wake of the great earthquake that struck just east of the island nation at 9:46 p.m. Thursday Pacific Time., is a sister city to Riverside, and Mayor Ron Loveridge set a 3 p.m. meeting for today to discuss the best way to aid the city.

Loveridge has traveled to Sendai four times. It became a sister city in 1957.

"Sendai has been hollowed out," he said. "Basic services don't exist because of the extraordinary damage. We want to help in the major recovery costs by deciding on the best strategies."

The Los Angeles County Fire Department sent its elite search-and-rescue team to Japan early Saturday. They landed at Misawa Air Base in northern Japan.

The Riverside City Council plans to discuss aid to Japan at its meeting on Tuesday, as well. Loveridge, however, is currently attending a Leauge of Cities meeting in Washington, D.C. and is not expected back in Riverside until Wednesday.

for information on how you can help victims of last week's tragedy. --City News Service and Toni McAllister contributed to this report.