Many of you have been following the earthquake that affected China on Monday – the second major disaster to hit Asia in less than a week. Fortunately, the Dell employees who were in our Chengdu and Chongqing facilities, closest to the epicenter of the earthquake, are all safe.

However, thousands of others in the region have been impacted and are in desperate need of assistance.

While the government is moving quickly to help the victims, Dell and our employees are anxious to do what we can to help. We’re contributing RMB 2.1 million to the relief effort, and we’ll stay in close contact with and offer help to our employees, customers, suppliers and the emergency response organizations in these areas as they rebuild their communities.

China is one of our home countries. We’ve been doing business in China for 10 years now and employ more than 6,000 people across the country. And the Dell China team is extremely committed to its communities; in 2007, our employees volunteered more than 7,000 hours to Chinese charities. Their energy and commitment is an inspiration, one that has spread throughout Dell.

I hope others, both individuals and corporations, will do what they can to help. To learn how you can contribute to the China relief efforts, visit the Red Cross donation site.