Masaya Uchino’s ’11 Effort to Expedite Relief Monies to Japan Gains Traction

In response to an initiative begun by Masaya Uchino '11 to speed up mobile donation delivery of funds for Japan following the tsunami and earthquake, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on March 29 publicly praised four cellular companies for announcing plans to comply with her request.

After Uchino voiced concerns about the delay and created an online petition at Change.org, gathering more than 66,000 signatures, he caught the attention of Sen. Boxer.

Sen. Boxer then sent a letter to AT&T, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless on March 18 urging them to remit mobile donations as quickly as possible. If not expedited, these text donations can take as long as 90 days to be sent to relief organizations while the contributions are being collected through the wireless company's billing process.

"I am pleased that our nation's four largest wireless providers will expedite mobile donations to Japanese relief efforts to help the victims of this terrible disaster," Sen. Boxer said. "Now all those who send their donations by text can rest assured that their contributions are being rushed to assist those most in need."

Read Boxer's press release.

Watch the ABC7 Local video and read related commentary, "Law student starts campaign to expedite Japan donations."