11.08.2005 ET

(CSRwire) Portland, OR - Mercy Corps, an international humanitarian aid organization, is expanding disaster relief operations this week for two recent natural disasters: the earthquake in Pakistan and tropical storm Stan in Guatemala.

Major gifts from foundations and corporations have enabled the agency to expand its Pakistan and Guatemala emergency response programs and increase purchases of lifesaving provisions such as food, water and shelter. For Mercy Corps' Pakistan response, The Boeing Company contributed a $1 million gift; the Intel and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations each donated $500,000. For Guatemala relief, the Starbucks Foundation contributed $250,000.

"Our corporate and foundation partnerships are playing a crucial role in our relief efforts during this unprecedented year when Mercy Corps is responding simultaneously to so many disasters," said Peter Blomquist, Mercy Corps' Vice President for Constituency Development.

Aid workers in Pakistan report that a second crisis is imminent as winter weather approaches in the hard-hit villages located in the foothills of the Himalayas where Mercy Corps is working. There is fear that inadequate shelter could double earthquake's death toll in the coming months. Approximately 80,000 people are feared dead, with 3.8 million people homeless.

In both Pakistan and Guatemala, Mercy Corps has assembled medical teams that are treating patients daily from mobile medical units located in remote areas that have not received much assistance to date.

Mercy Corps is playing a leadership role in response to both disasters. In Guatemala, a Mercy Corps staff member is serving a key coordination role as liaison between the Guatemalan government and a coalition of humanitarian organizations working in the country.

In Pakistan, Mercy Corps has been designated as the lead non-governmental organization for a coalition charged with rehabilitating medical facilities in the hard-hit Northwest Frontier Province. The agency is also heading up a shelter strategy group based in Manserha near the earthquake's epicenter.

Mercy Corps had worked in Pakistan for 20 years prior to the quake and it had been in Guatemala for five years before this crisis.

Mercy Corps continues its assistance in the Gulf region for Hurricane Katrina victims, which includes a multi-faceted program called Comfort for Kids.

For more information about Mercy Corps, please visit www.mercycorps.org.

Mercy Corps alleviates suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided more than $1 billion in assistance to people in 81 nations. The organization's 2,100 staff worldwide currently reach 7 million people in more than 35 countries. Mercy Corps allocates more than 92 percent of its resources to programs that assist people in need.

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