As you are well aware by now, millions of Sri Lankans were displaced (pictures , movies) from what is now referred to as “9.0/2004”. The protracted human toll and grief is unfathomable, with large parts of most villages on the southern and eastern coastlines still struggling to rebuild.

The Sri Lanka Relief Fund family is trying to help out in every way possible. In December 2004, our physicians, along with local Sri Lankan physicians and family members of the late former Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayawardhene, treated over 400 patients at two shelters. Unfortunately, they did not have basic equipment and routine medications to do an adequate job. The Fund then organized donation trips in January 2005 to the affected southern coastline city of Galle, to deliver essential supplies such as footwear, soap, water, and sleeping mats. During the months of February and March 2005, Nihal Senarath, one of our tsunami relief coordination directors, traveled to Sri Lanka with Joseph Schollmeyer and his group from Architects Without Borders in Portland, Oregon to assist in the new phase of rebuilding. The group drafted plans to build a schoolhouse in Hambantota, and the school was completed in Summer 2005. In addition, the SLRF has future building plans for 2009, including another schoolhouse and a "free healthcare" center, to be built nearer populated areas such as Colombo.

The Sri Lanka Relief Fund was founded to ensure all continuing and future donations will directly benefit those in need, with all members volunteers and less than 1% of donations needed for administrative use. Donations will be used to fund both relief aid and the equally important rebuilding phase. The Fund has created an account to be used specifically for receiving donations and purchasing supplies for the current rebuilding effort. I would like to give special thanks to Mahesh Soori and Lee Swift for their help in launching this website, which includes pictures, videos, and news articles to give potential donors an intimate look at the aftermath of destruction and ongoing relief efforts. This media hopefully provides the viewer/potential donor an understanding of the amount of relief aid needed in Sri Lanka. Additionally, you may find a bio of each executive member/director and website author of the Sri Lanka Relief Fund by clicking on the About Us tab.

Many of our families and friends have asked us to help deliver relief supplies on their behalf, and have already sent or pledged funds and/or supplies. This initial funding was used to purchase and donate supplies on the first donation trip to Galle. Since the launch of this website, our extended Fund family has already received donations large and small from the general public totaling over one hundred thousand dollars. We hope to receive additional donations over time from the global family, who understand the long-term nature of the rebuilding process. We ask you to join us as we plan additional fundraising efforts to increase awareness of the true degree and scope of the effects of this terrible disaster, and try to improve the quality of life for those affected in the long term.

Thank you

Mr. Marcus Charles Bernard Soori, Co-Founder and President, Sri Lanka Relief Fund