Microsoft China pledged RMB 1 million (USD162,000) worth of donations and 1,000 emergency relief packages in response to the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Ya’an city in Sichuan province in April, which caused at least 192 deaths and left more than 11,000 people injured.
In aid of the relief operations in Sichuan, senior Microsoft China executives — including Ralph Haupter, Vice President and CEO of Microsoft Greater China Region, and Ya-Qin Zhang, Vice President and Chairman of Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D Group, and David Chen, Vice President and General Manager of Legal and Corporate Affairs — convened within hours after the earthquake struck to initiate an emergency response programme and support first responder organisations.
The first batch of relief packages provided by Microsoft reached the main disaster area in Ya’an in less than 10 hours after the earthquake, while the pledged donations were delivered via the nonprofit groups YouCheng Foundation and One Foundation. Microsoft’s contributions were recognised by several senior government officials in Sichuan.
“We were focused on putting together a quick response to deliver critical aid effectively to the Sichuan Ya’an earthquake relief efforts. Our thoughts are with the victims and the affected families, and Microsoft will continue to contribute to helping the Chinese government and humanitarian workers rebuild the affected communities in Sichuan after the earthquake,” said Mr Haupter.
During the Sichuan earthquake, Microsoft also played a leading role in offering local nonprofits technical assistance on disaster relief monitoring, while helping to provide updated information and drive awareness of the relief efforts via the MSN and Bing platforms.
Microsoft China has been encouraging its employees to help raise funds and support the charity organisations involved with the ongoing relief efforts in the disaster-stricken communities — by 8 May, 408 Microsoft China employees and vendors had donated a total of RMB 329,221 (USD53,334) through the employee individual donation programme.
Members of the Microsoft Shanghai (MSSH) Music Club initiated a concert to further encourage local staff to donate and continue supporting the online employee donation programme. The concert was held on 8 May, and the MSSH Music Club members put together the programme and rehearsed the musical performances over the span of only one week. The fundraising concert attracted more than 100 employees.
“Our goal is to provide financial aid as well as our love and care to make a difference to the lives of the people in Ya’an who were affected by the earthquake,” said Jolie Zheng, the Founder and Chairwoman of the MSSH Music Club.
