In keeping with the values and ideals of the Olympic Movement, America's Olympic and Paralympic athletes are partnering with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) in creating the Team for Tomorrow Fund, it was announced on Wednesday.

The fund is a humanitarian relief effort through which?US athletes will offer assistance and support to people around the world who are in need, the USOC said in a statement.

Humanitarian relief and assistance will come in the form of financial donations, volunteerism, disaster recovery support, advocacy and other contributions to communities, it said.

"The Olympic Movement is the greatest force for hope and opportunity in our world today," said USOC Chairman Peter Ueberroth. "Team for Tomorrow was initiated by our Olympians and Paralympians as a means to continue spreading the Olympic Ideals of peace, understanding, tolerance and harmony around the world."

"America's Olympic and Paralympic athletes have expressed a profound interest in social and civic responsibility. They are looking for ways to make a difference in the world and to give something back."

The first initiative for the Team for Tomorrow Fund involved providing disaster relief tents to families that lost their homes during the recent earthquakes that struck China.

On behalf of America's Olympic and Paralympic athletes, the USOC donated 1,000 relief tents to survivors of the May 12 earthquake in China's Sichuan Province that left approximately 5 million people homeless.

To assist those in need in the United States, the?US Olympic and Paralympic Teams are donating service hours to Habitat for Humanity, the announcement said.

Following the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games, athletes will donate their time to Habitat for Humanity local affiliates in their hometown areas, building houses in partnership with families in need and giving back to their local communities throughout the United States, it said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2008)