World Vision tsunami campaign set to soar with cricket connection

World Vision New Zealand’s tsunami appeal reached $2m today and is set to get a further boost with the announcement of a Black Caps versus the world one day cricket series which will raise even more cash for tsunami victims.

New Zealand Cricket today confirmed the series to be held later this month (January) when the Black Caps will take on a World XI including world class bowlers Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. The world side also includes batsman Sanath Jayasuriya, whose mother was injured when the tidal wave lashed the Sri Lankan coast.

The games to be held on January 22, 24, 26 in Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton, will be broadcast live on Sky TV and will help raise money for World Vision’s tsunami relief efforts and also for Cricket Aid – an organisation set up by Sri Lankan cricketers to assist tsunami victims in their homeland.

The announcement follows a hugely successful charity match in Melbourne yesterday which pitted the world against an Asian XI and was watched on television by an estimated 1 billion people and boosted World Vision’s global fund raising efforts by $16m.

About the same amount was raised at a World Vision fundraising concert, featuring top Australian and Kiwi rockers, held at the Sydney Opera House last weekend (8 Jan). The show was broadcast simultaneously on the three main Australian television networks and by Prime television in New Zealand.

Meanwhile World Vision New Zealand is partnering with mobile phone applications developer Hyperfactory to conduct a text messaging campaign in aid of its tsunami appeal – the first New Zealand agency to do so.

>From today Telecom and Vodafone subscribers can make a $3 donation by texting “Donate” to short code 883.

World Vision New Zealand executive director Helen Green said today such collaborative efforts were reaping rich rewards.

“The impact of the tsunami was enormous but the impact of compassionate people partnering together can be even greater,” she said.

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