The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) today announced that it has opened an emergency mailbox to collect funds for relief efforts following Thursday’s Cyclone Sidr along the western coast of Bangladesh. With sustained winds of at least 155 mph, to date, over 3,000 people have been reported as killed and hundreds more are unaccounted for. Thousands of homes have been flattened and millions have been evacuated.

“Throughout our 93-year history, we have supported nonsectarian activities. JDC is assessing the situation and mobilizing to help those in need” said Steve Schwager, Chief Executive Officer, JDC.

JDC’s non-sectarian program has provided aid to those affected by the earthquake in Peru, the Tsunami in South Asia, flooding in Haiti and the Dominican Republic; victims of terror in Turkey; earthquakes in El Salvador, India, Morocco and Turkey, displaced people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo following the eruption of the Mt. Nyiragongo volcano; and war-torn communities in Kosovo.