JUNE 7, 2008

Dear Friends,

As you know, on May 12, 2008 an earthquake struck Sichuan Province in China. We don’t even know yet how many people are dead. Some reports say 80,000, some say 100,000. They think that over 10,000 of the dead are children. Millions of people lost everything they had.

I was in Beijing filming a public service announcement when the earthquake happened. The room shook a little and I didn’t think much about it. Later when I learned what took place, I was completely shocked. Immediately I asked myself what I could do to help. The first thing I did was to donate money through my charity foundation. The next thing I did was to ask for permission to go to the disaster zone. It took three days and a lot of help from my friends and the government, but I was finally able to go to Sichuan to visit with the victims and bring them more money and supplies. What I saw there made me feel like my heart was breaking into a million pieces. In my whole life I don't think I've ever felt that kind of despair.

Since the earthquake, I haven’t been able to think of anything else. Every day I watched the news reports from China and I heard the stories and I’m not embarrassed to say that I cried until I had no more tears. I wanted to be Superman and go lift the buildings off of all the people who were trapped and crying out for help. But of course I couldn’t do that; I am just one man. Instead, I used all the power I have as a celebrity to get as many people involved as I could. We recorded songs and held concerts that raised millions of dollars. But for me, it’s not enough. When I talk to my friends overseas, I hear that the earthquake news has moved off the front pages and is barely mentioned anymore on the television broadcasts. So I told my webmaster to do everything she could to keep the story alive. I will use my website to make sure that everyone knows that even though the earthquake is over, the situation in China is still very frightening and the people need our support.

Many of my fans have been donating money through my website and some have sent donations to my office. I know that a lot of you have also given to the Red Cross and other organizations.  I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for this. All these years my fans have supported my charities and are continuing now. Thank you.

I have made a decision about the Build a School for a Dollar project. At first I planned to build a school in China with the money that was raised by the project, but now I will use that money to re-build a school that was lost in the earthquake. I have asked my friends to help and some of them have made large donations. Together with the money from the first round of Build a School for a Dollar, we will build new schools in the cities that lost everything.

The Build a School for a Dollar project is in its second round now, and I count on the support of all my fans to make that fund grow quickly. All the money that was donated to the project and to the China Earthquake Fund on my website since May 12 will be put together and used for rebuilding. The $75,000 raised already will be used in Sichuan also. Of course I will continue to match your donations dollar for dollar. That’s my promise.

Yesterday my webmaster showed me more dollar donation projects that were sent to my office. A big pile of drawings were sent from a group of scouts in America. This group of girls has sent money before and I was so happy to see that they were continuing to support the Build a School project. I’m happy because it’s important to know that the project is ongoing. I want to send a special thank you to these little girls and their scout leaders.

I also saw a letter from a teenage girl in England who sent me her pocket money. She told me that because she sent her weekly spending money, she would not be able to go out with her friends and have fun. But she said it was a small sacrifice to make for such an important project. When I read what she wrote, I was so happy! Even though her donation was small, it was very meaningful. She understands what charity is and she knows that even a small donation can help when it’s added to thousands of other small donations. Remember that if enough drops of water are added together, they can form a huge river!

After going through all the donation drawings and letters that arrived at my office, my heart felt very full. I wish I could talk about each one and say a personal thank you to every person who sent me a donation with a letter and the story of how they raised the money. But of course I can’t. But I promise you that I sit down and go through all the letters, drawings, and photos that you send and Katharine (my webmaster) reads through all of them and tells me about each one. I am so thankful and grateful for my wonderful fans.

One more thing...the other day some fans sent me some coins and some other fans sent me a check. First, thank you! But it costs so much to send coins and when we get them it's difficult for my staff to handle them. And when someone sends a check, the bank fees to cash it are so high that the donation is lost. So please don't send coins or checks! We don't want to waste even one penny of the money that you're donating.

This can is filled with coins!

This group of people collected money from a bake sale and sent me a check. It costs almost as much to cash the check as it's worth!

Please don't send checks!

That’s all I want to say for now. Please look through my website and see the photos and watch the videos and listen to the songs. And please continue to support the Build a School for a Dollar project and the people of China. Thank you.

Jackie Chan

5.12 Links on JackieChan.com

Visit to Chengdu
Photo Essay Part 1

Visit to Chengdu
Photo Essay Part 2

Songs from Jackie and Jaycee

512 Concert in Hong Kong

If you can make a donation, please use our secure online donation page. Click here and choose either Dragon's Heart or China Earthquake Fund from the drop-down menu. Any size donation is appreciated.

Text and photos ©2008 The JC Group. All Rights Reserved.