Schumacher Donates 13 Million Bucks

[Fab]

www.f1-live.com

Seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher has donated 10 million dollars to the victims of last week's Asian tsunamis, his manager Willi Weber said during a German telethon on Tuesday.

"The dawning of the New Year has not been as joyful for us this year because of the catastrophe in Asia. We sympathise with the victims in their grief," Schumacher said.

The death toll from the massive December 26 earthquake and resulting tidal waves around the Indian Ocean neared 146,000 Tuesday.

Source AFP

[MYVYSS]

MICHAEL Schumacher is leading a sporting armada of charity to help victims of the tsunami disaster in Asia.

The Formula One world champion has donated $13 million of his personal fortune to aid charities in the area.

Schumacher alone has shown generosity beyond compare, with sports governing bodies not even coming close to such donations.

The International Olympic Committee was the latest such organisation to pledge funds to the victims of the disaster that has so far killed 146,000 people in the region, offering $2.6 million in aid.

FIFA, football's world governing body, has donated the same amount, although specified that money should be used primarily to rebuild the infrastructure of the game in the battered region.

Cricket's response was especially swift, largely owed to the fact it is the most popular sport in India and Sri Lanka, both severely affected by the deadly tidal waves of December 26, 2004.

Teams including Australia, South Africa and England have all donated match fees and Melbourne's hosting of the Asia-Rest Of The World one-day contest on January 10 will raise further cash for the relief effort.

Tickets sold fast yesterday for the MCG match, with adults paying $20 per ticket and children $10.

While Sri Lanka's tour of New Zealand was cancelled so the players could fly home to injured relatives and help the relief effort, many of their finest international players will front up for the Asia team.

Also in Australia for the start of the tennis year, German tennis player Nicolas Kiefer found a novel way to raise cash for the crisis.

He will donate $100 for every ace he serves in his next three tournaments while he plans an exhibition match with top Thai player Paradorn Srichaphan in the badly affected Thai resort of Phuket.

Russia's Wimbledon tennis champion Maria Sharapova gave $10,000 to Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra while she was in Bangkok last week for an exhibition match.

The ATP, the governing body of men's professional tennis, has also joined the relief effort with a series of activities during this week's Chennai Open, which is taking place close to the Indian coast hit by the tsunami.

Many of Europe's top soccer teams, idolised by millions of fans around the Indian Ocean, have also given generously.

The English Premier League has pledged $2.6 million, with clubs such as Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea contributing the most.

Former France midfielder David Ginola was on holiday with his children in the Maldives and was having breakfast with his son when the wave hit his hotel.

"An event like this makes you see life from another perspective," Ginola told French television.

Ginola has long been part of a world campaign against landmines and fears the tsunami could have unearthed more mines.

The Paris 2012 Corporate Club, a group of 14 major international French companies supporting the city's bid to host the 2012 Olympics, has donated 200,000 euros to charities.

In the United States, NFL and NBA teams collected large sums from fans at games over the weekend and the International Rugby Board (IRB) has made a donation to U.N. World Food Program.

[Casper]

Threads merged.

[Dez]

schumacher....all round champion!

[Chucky]

That's an amazing donation for one individual to make. Makes the sporting bodies donations & my own paltry $50.00 to the Red Cross look like a pittance!!

[b2tf]

That's really great to see.

Just remember though, its the thought that counts. It doesnt matter to me whether someone donates $10mil or 10c, as long as they're doing it for the right reason. I dontaed what i know i can afford, and im sure that's what everyone else is doing too - not breaking the bank to look good in the eyes of many.

[Dez]

true, they can definitely afford more....especially the EPL when it has that many clubs contributing! 2.6 million.... a few players weekly wage.

im a big soccer fan, but the fact that they said they 2.6 million was to be used to rebuild the game makes me sick.

[JimBoSS]

Listening to the Radio, the media is almost making it a competition on who can donate more money.. the cause is almost irrelivent for the damn Media..

thought i'd share..

but pretty good effort from the great man

[Dez]

Originally Posted by back2thefutura

That's really great to see.

Just remember though, its the thought that counts. It doesnt matter to me whether someone donates $10mil or 10c, as long as they're doing it for the right reason. I dontaed what i know i can afford, and im sure that's what everyone else is doing too - not breaking the bank to look good in the eyes of many.

i'm not completely sure if you mean schumacher is just doing it to look good....i dont think 13million would hurt his bank balance all that much anyway....i think he's just incredibly generous....and should be applauded

[b2tf]

madwob,

nah i didnt mean that, what i meant was that while people like him can easily afford to donate such a large sum, that doesnt mean the rest of us are stingy buggers cos we only put in $50-100 or whatever.

Just trying to say that i dont like people who say 'oh i donate xxxx' just to make themselves look all kind and compassionate, when the truth is they're only doing it to look good.

[MYVYSS]

on a side note SAndra Bullock the actor has donated 1 million US Dollars personally as well.....

[Danny]

What a top bloke!

Both schuey and bullock that is....

[Chucky]

Originally Posted by MYVYSS

on a side note SAndra Bullock the actor has donated 1 million US Dollars personally as well.....

Another amazing effort. Makes you feel good about the human race when you see generous gifts like these.. Bloody well done IMO.. :

[lv619]

Defenetly great to see. However, lets just hope that these donations actually do something in the near future (i.e. not 6 months down the track after another 100k have died from disease).

[Dez]

Originally Posted by back2thefutura

madwob,

nah i didnt mean that, what i meant was that while people like him can easily afford to donate such a large sum, that doesnt mean the rest of us are stingy buggers cos we only put in $50-100 or whatever.

Just trying to say that i dont like people who say 'oh i donate xxxx' just to make themselves look all kind and compassionate, when the truth is they're only doing it to look good.

yeah i agree 100% mate...thats what i thought you might have meant...just wasnt sure if u were directing it at schumachers donation.

i was also going to say in my first post that $50 from a normal person like us is a decent donation. if we had their kind of money im sure we'd donate similar sums

[paul7v7]

schuey does a lot of charity work but doesn't brag about it. Good on him.

[tickford2001]

was probably just the spare change from his ash tray...!

nah seriously, great work schuey, it will make a world of difference and certainly puts a lot of the big companies in the world that make billions to shame...

[rodderz]

Great effort, goes to show that money isnt everything to some people and there willing to donate a large some of money for the benefit of those who need it

[galaxy xr8]

That is great to hear, there is compasionate people out there, 10 million to him is probably like $10 for people like us but there need's to be more people like him to help this disaster.

[BA GT-HO]

Don't like the man when he is in his Red Car but seriously good on you mate. I have heard he is a great bloke outside of competition, this proves it. No way would you donate 13mil to 'make yourself look good'.

[Cobra]

Every donation is generous. I knew what back2thefutura was trying to say. He did clarify it, but I think to put generosity into perspective, you can't look at the sheer quauntity donated by an individual, but rather the amount donated proportional to the amount of money that person has. If I donated $50 that's proportionally more than what Schumacher donated. But that's not taking away the fact he did donate and the amount he donated. Really awesome effort Schui!

[klawsterfobik]

Its been a fantastic effort world wide... i heard on the radio today that Australia is going to bring its pledge up to something like $600million. I cant remember the total figure for everything thats been put in, but it was well into the Billions of dollars.

I think its great to see what is going on in the aftermath, people banding together to get something done for everyone to benefit from.

[Dez]

i heard that the australian public has pledged $80 million already

then 10 minutes later in the car i heard they broke the $100million mark, so someones info is either in-accurate, or out of date.....either way thats a very decent effort

[ilsautomotive]

It's all great to see.

My $50 when I'm in debt would make a nice 'proportional' amount but time is the urgent issue for the victims as much as money. And not for economic reasons either.

[Franky]

That's great news, Michael is a very generous man and not only his recent donation but in the past he has always been a great role model. It would be nice to see a few more celebrities or companies lend a hand when it's needed the most. It'd put money on the very generous Opera too donate some money which would be much more helpful than handing out cars to strangers

It could be the only lifeline Michael Jackson has got left (only j/k)

[Dez]

Originally Posted by Devil Racer

That's great news, Michael is a very generous man and not only his recent donation but in the past he has always been a great role model. It would be nice to see a few more celebrities or companies lend a hand when it's needed the most. It'd put money on the very generous Opera too donate some money which would be much more helpful than handing out cars to strangers

It could be the only lifeline Michael Jackson has got left (only j/k)

i rekin jackson would be 1 of the first to donate big bucks if he wasnt bankrupt..

good to see companies like microsoft making donations...........tightasses, bill could fund the entire operation from his personal bank account!

[Franky]

Originally Posted by madwob

i rekin jackson would be 1 of the first to donate big bucks if he wasnt bankrupt..

good to see companies like microsoft making donations...........tightasses, bill could fund the entire operation from his personal bank account!

Exactly, that's who I meant, the guy makes a million a day or something... What else could you spend that amount of money on...

[Black XR6]

try a million every few minutes or so.

[klawsterfobik]

The Australian Govt. has pledged $AU1 Billion, thats the largest out of ANY country so far... too bad the PM has come out and said that part of it is politically motivated...

[Dez]

wtf? they said that? even if its true...why would you say it? you just wouldnt