Yao Aids Earthquake Victims

Earlier this week an earthquake struck China, killing 589 people and leaving 10,000 injured. Everybody’s doing their part, and so is Yao Ming. He’s set up a hotline for North American Chinese residents to reach out to any family and friends who might have been impacted.

“Yao, out this season after left foot surgery, created a foundation in June 2008, about a month after a massive earthquake struck the Sichuan province. Yao created his foundation with a $2 million donation to rebuild schools in the affected area.

Yao said he’s not sure yet what role his foundation will play in the latest recovery effort.

“This happened now, so, we still don’t know,” Yao said. “Lot of questions. We have some experience now. Obviously, we can do better than last time.”

The hotline number is (718) 766-9636. A recorded message in English and Mandarin asks the caller to enter the phone number of the person they are trying to reach in China.”