We have all been watching the heart-wrenching tragedy unfold in Burma with an increasing sense of frustration and anguish. So many of you have reached out to us wanting to know how you can help effectively. Others are sharing with us ways that charities, big and small, are able to make a difference. Here are some updates from members, as well as other places on our site to read more:

• Read the latest Burma update from a relief worker at work on the ground.

• A plea from a member who is on the board of Save the Children: “Save the Children has been working in Mynamar for over 15 years. We have programs in the country and have been delivering aid since the beginning of this cyclone disaster. If anyone wishes to support emergency relief, you can go to the website www.savethechildren.org. Our emergency teams have been allowed in and have begun distributing water, food, protection plastic. Supporting professional relief teams is smart because they are equipped to offer sustainable relief and immediate reconstruction efforts which are socially and culturally appropriate thereby beginning to restore the social fabric of the society. Sharing our good fortune is transformational for the recipient and transformative for us.”

• Another member let us know about Asia Transpacific Journeys, a travel company based in Boulder, Colorado, that is distributing clay water filters in Yangon through its foundation. A $100 donation provides clean drinking water for 20 children. A $10,000 donation funds the construction of an entire filter production facility, which employs 20 people and can produce 100 filters a day. To find out more, visit www.asiatranspacificfoundation.org.

• Yet another let us know that humanitarian aid organization the IRC (International Rescue Committee) has dispatched an emergency team to Burma. To learn more, visit www.theirc.org.

• Through their employees who live in Burma, Abercrombie & Kent has been able to distribute such essential supplies as rice, drinking water, cooking oil, medicine and clothing to the victims of the cyclone. They encourage travelers to donate to the Myanmar Relief Fund set up by Friends of Conservation to support these local, person-to-person efforts. www.friendsofconservation.org

• Read a list of recommended aid programs from Katie Redford, U.S. Office Director and co-founder of Earth Rights, who is married to the Burmese human rights activist Ka Hsaw Wa.

• Read a postcard from a member about the Amara Health Care Foundation, a Burmese medical clinic that provides help to those in need.

• Read a dispatch from Burma from Jack Healey, former director of Amnesty International.