Donation box at Olympic Tower collects over 500,000 yuan in three hours

　　(BEIJING, May 14) -- The recent devastating earthquake that hit Sichuan Province has taken thousands of lives and left much damage in its wake. The hilly area of Wenchuan was hardest hit. In order to help the victims of the catastrophe, donations have poured in; on Wednesday morning, a donation box was set up in the Olympic Tower, so that employees could contribute to relief efforts.

　　The donation activity was set to start at 9 a.m.; however, as early as 8 a.m., people were lining up to offer monetary help. BOCOG leaders Liu Jingming, Wang Wei, Jiang Xiaoyu, Li Binghua, and Yang Shu'an also stood in line to offer their sympathy.

　　One employee at the Olympic Tower remarked that the Olympics is a format for relaying friendship, unity, and love.

　　Yesterday, at the opening day of a conference involving sponsors of the Beijing Games, donations were also accepted for disaster relief efforts. In addition to individual contributions, a total of 21,590 yuan was donated.

　　By the time the activity ended, at noon, 564,169.63 yuan was collected in the donation box at the Olympic Tower. That same afternoon, at a separate donation effort organized by the Beijing Olympics opening and closing ceremonies planners, 70,000 yuan was received.