Latin Music Stars For Peru Relief

If you live on the U.S. West Coast - or anywhere that is considered earthquake country - then you're probably well aware of the Richter scale and have some idea of how terrifying it would be to experience an earthquake of magnitude 8.0. For instance, the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was magnitude 7.7 -7.8 and that quake, together with subsequent fires, nearly destroyed the entire city.

So when we hear that a magnitude 8.0 quake hit Peru in August, we can only imagine the devastation that it caused. In fact, there were more than 70,000 families affected by the quake; many of them are still without homes and the basic necessities of life.

"Alas for Peru" (Alas is Spanish for 'wings') is a campaign to help provide badly needed relief to the area. An alliance by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the ALAS Foundation has been joined by many of Latin music's brightest stars to help raise awareness in the international community of the plight of these Peruvian families.

The goal is to raise $4.7 million dollars that will used to support 37,500 people over the next 9 months.

The list of artists includes Carlos Vives, Mana's Fher Olvera, Chayanne, Juanes, Alejandro Fernandez, Ricardo Montaner, Alejandro Sanz, Wyclef Jean, Daddy Yankee, Miguel Bose, Julieta Venegas, Shakira, Thalia, Juan Luis Guerra, Ricky Martin - well, the list just goes on and on.

The ALAS music artists have recorded 30-second public service announcements; there are currently 9 of them that you can watch on the internet. But hey - don't just watch the announcements. Every little bit helps, and you can donate online.

Watch TV Spots and/or Donate

For non-Spanish speakers: Enter the site by selecting "INGRESAR AL SITIO - you don't need to register. On the next page you'll see a little red cross next to "Donar Online". Once on the next page, you can request English to complete your donation.