Selene owners rally to donate money to earthquake disaster relief in China

A survivor retrieves her belongings from the rubble in Shifang in Sichuan province (May 19, 2008 photograph by Andrew Wong/Getty Images published on the LA Times wesbite).

An earthquake survivor delicately folds what clothes he can find from his destroyed home in the quake-hit township of Hanwang in Mianzhu city, north of Chengdu in Sichuan province (May 21, 2008 photograph by Barbara Davidson/LA Times).

Selene owners have a special bond with China and its people because our beautiful yachts are made there. Although the recent earthquake in southwestern China did not affect the Jet Tern Marine yards in Dong Guan or Zhuhai, it is likely that some of the 1,500 workers there may have families who were affected.

As Mark Tilden ("Koinonia"), who maintains the Selene Owners Site, recently wrote:

We, as owners of these beautiful yachts, are pretty well off by any standard and many of us have traveled to China and made new friends there through the process of building a Selene. It seems to me that we are in a unique position to help collect some funds to aid in the disaster relief in China.

Working with the Mercy Corps organization, Mark established a special donation "group" for Selene owners. As of May 21, 2008 Selene owners have generously contributed more than $4,500 to Mercy Corps to help their team on the ground in China help the Chinese people affected by the earthquake.

To read more about how Selene owners are working with Mercy Corps and learn more how you can make a tax deductible contribution to this worthy cause, please read Mark's complete post on the Selene Owners Site.