A west suburban Buddhist temple is leading a fundraising effort to support victims of last week’s massive earthquake in Myanmar that has killed more than 2,000 people.Moe Lwin, president of the Burmese Buddhist Association in Elmhurst, said the organization decided Sunday to launch a fundraiser be cause “we help our people from all over the world,” and it’s a “very difficult time for Myanmar people.”The 7.7 magnitude quake hit Friday, with the epicenter near Myanmar’s second-largest city of Mandalay. It damaged the city’s airport, buckled roads and collapsed hundreds of buildings along a wide swath down the country’s midsection.“This disaster has left countless families without homes, access to food, or medical care,” the Burmese Buddhist Association said in a message to its community. “In this time of crisis, we must come together to provide urgent aid and support for those in need.”People interested in donating can contact the Burmese Buddhist Association at 630-941-7608 or bbachicagomembers@gmail.com.As state media provided updates Monday, accounts of some people's last moments emerged: 200 Buddhist monks crushed by a collapsing monastery; 50 children killed when a preschool classroom crumbled; 700 Muslims struck while saying Ramadan prayers at mosques. Rescuers carry out search-and-rescue efforts among collapsed buildings in Mandalay, Myanmar.Jiang Chao/AP Photos Lwin said his friend’s brother and son were among the hundreds killed when a mosque collapsed as they were praying.Relief efforts are further hampered by power outages, fuel shortages and spotty communications. A lack of heavy machinery has slowed search-and-rescue operations, forcing many to search for survivors by hand in daily temperatures above 104 degrees.The quake could also exacerbate hunger and disease outbreaks, aid groups warned, in a country that was already one of the world’s most challenging places for humanitarian organizations to operate because of civil war.Donations to the Burmese Buddhist Association will go directly to an aid group in Myanmar, Lwin said, noting the difficulties of dealing with Myanmar’s military-led government.“We don’t want to collect medicine and other stuff because it’s too difficult to send it straight to Burma, because the government is military and when we send it, they’re going to seize it,” Lwin said.Lwin said the organization hasn’t set a deadline for the fundraiser and that rescue, food and shelter assistance is its immediate priority. The organization then hopes to help with rebuilding efforts.“It’s going to be a long process,” Lwin said. “There’s a lot of houses damaged, there’s fires going on, and a lot of people are homeless, so we have to help them all the way, and it depends on how fast we can rebuild it.”Myanmar state MRTV reported that the leader of the military government, senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, told Pakistan's prime minister during a call that 2,065 people were killed, more than 3,900 injured and about 270 are missing.Relief agencies expect those numbers to rise sharply because access is difficult in remote areas where communications are down. ...read more read less