There is nothing preplanned about Amma’s mission. All her projects have been spontaneously compassionate responses to the sorrow and suffering that she sees around her. There is no question of 'how' or 'why'.
Her compassion has manifested in the massive relief efforts undertaken by the Ashram. Whenever and wherever disaster, Amma responded as a mother would to her children's needs. The past few years have seen natural disasters and tragedies involving the natural elements: fire, water, wind, and earth. In October 2005, the Indian regions of Kashmir and Jammu and Pakistan were rocked by an earthquake that claimed over 80,000 lives. Two months before that, in August 2005, Hurricane Katrina submerged the entire city of New Orleans and displaced hundreds of thousands. In July 2005, almost three feet (944mm) of rain fell in 24 hours in Mumbai, resulting in massive flooding. The tsunami that struck in December 2004 claimed countless lives throughout India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and other countries in the region. In June 2004, a fire at a school in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, took the lives of nearly 100 children and left countless others injured. In 2001, an earthquake destroyed many villages and killed 3,000 people in Gujarat. In 1992, an earthquake in Lathore, Maharastra, claimed 20,000 lives.
In response to each of these tragedies, Amma’s helping hand reached out to those in need. She has always felt a deep inner calling that it was her duty to help people. From an early age, Amma has been helping those in the surrounding villages who were in need by providing food, clothing, and shelter. Later, Amma’s charitable activities expanded throughout her home state of Kerala, and then continued on to all of India. Amma has often said that while it may be someone's karma to fall into a well, it is our karma to assist them. Today, Amma’s efforts to alleviate pain and suffering extend to all parts of the globe.
Amma also says that there is currently an imbalance in Dharma and in Nature - we are taking from Nature with reckless abandon and not caring sufficiently for the suffering in the world. How can we restore this balance? Amma says this can be done by following our own Dharma and by praying with our hearts and serving with our hands.
Bihar Flood, September 2008: Ashram announced two-crore rupees (3,13,596€) for flood-relief work in Bihar.Currently 50 percent of Bihar is underwater.The UN has stated that at least one million people have been rendered homeless; others say the figure is as high as five million. According to the World Health Organization, 1,850 villages, inhabited by 3.3 million people, have been flooded. More than 600,000 people have been evacuated so far, but as many as hundreds of thousands still remain on rooftops or isolated high ground. Bihar’s Ministry of Agriculture has reported that crop damage is said to be at 1.5 billion rupees ($36 million U.S.) and rising. In the worst-hit areas, like Saharsa, only tree-tops are visible above the waterline.
Hundreds of thousands have nothing but the clothes they are wearing—no food to eat and no means to cook it even if they did. Water is everywhere, but none is potable.
Amma has sent several teams comprising brahmacharis, brahmacharinis, doctors and nurses to the region. AIMS Hospital’s Mobile Medical Unit {news} and an ambulance will be reaching the region soon. The Mobile Medical Unit is as large as a city bus and contains facilities for X-ray and ECG as well as a pathology lab which can connect via satellite to AIMS. A lot of medicine is also being procured for the treatment. The Ashram’s flood-relief headquarters is being established in the Purnia District. The current plan is to begin by constructing 20 temporary shelters one of which will serve as a temporary hospital.more... .
Kashmir Earthquake: Two disciples, along with devotees from the Delhi Ashram, immediately traveled to the region to console villagers and to distribute food and other aid to victims, including hundreds of blankets which were sent from Amritapuri. The Ashram also met with government officials and expressed a desire to adopt 2-3 villages.
Asian Tsunami: Amma pledged 100 crore (23 million USD) in aid for India – including 3 lakh for Sri Lanka. The overall efforts are truly massive and widespread: from providing immediate aid in the form of temporary shelters, food, clothing, medical assistance, and basic needs, to long term projects which include the construction of new homes, distribution of new boats, and providing vocational training, education, and pensions to those in need. The Ashram was also the first NGO in India to complete construction of new homes.
But, in truth, altogether the value of the project is in effect nearly $46 million, as so much of the work is being done by volunteers. more...
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Following hurricanes Katrina and Rita—which struck the Gulf Area of the United States in August and September 2005, respectively—more than 100 Amma service groups throughout North America responded by giving carloads, vanloads and truckloads of food, clothing, school supplies and other essential items.Extensive medical care and emotional support was given. Volunteers visited relief sites and
helped displaced persons locate one another, via the Internet.
In December 2005, the Mata Amritanandamayi Center (located in San Ramon, California) donated $1 million U.S. (Rs. 4.3 crores) to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. Swami Ramakrishnananda and Brahmachari Dayamrita Chaitanya (representing the M.A. Center) personally handed over the check to former President Clinton. The donation is one of the largest the Fund—which is run by former U.S. Presidents George Bush, Sr., and Bill Clinton—received from a non-governmental organisation.
Gujurat Earthquake: The devastating earthquake that struck Gujarat in 2001 claimed the lives of almost
20,000 people. Amma’s response to the disaster was immediate. AIMS Hospital dispatched
a disaster-relief team of a dozen surgeons and two fully equipped ambulances
that facilitated expert trauma care in the devastated areas. The doctors
performed lifesaving operations in extremely makeshift conditions. One hundred
students from Amrita University helped the relief work by recovering bodies from the
rubble, distributing clothes and feeding and comforting the survivors.
After the initial crisis was over, Amma’s monastic disciples and volunteers remained, working tirelessly to help rebuild the people’s lives. Math adopted three villages, which were rebuilt comprising 1,200 earthquake-proof houses, as well as community halls, a school, several temples and a mosque. At a joyful inauguration, where thousands came to greet Amma, L.K. Advani,
the Deputy Prime Minister of India, handed the keys to the beneficiaries. Out of gratitude, the people renamed their villages after Amma. Four years later, Amma’s support still had such an impact on the people that the village leaders made the three-day journey to Kerala to help Amma rebuild houses for tsunami victims near AMMA's ashram.
Mumbai Flood: In July 2005, torrential floods affected millions of people, especially slum-dwellers
whose makeshift houses were simply washed away. Math immediately provided food
and bedding. Doctors, accompanied by two fully equipped ambulances, attended to
about 50,000 patients and distributed medicines worth a total of $1 million U.S.
(Rs. 4.3 crores).
School Fire: Brahmacharinis from Amritapuri visited Kumbhakonam, Tamil Nadu to help in the hospitals where victims were being treated. They also consoled families who lost children or whose children were badly burned in the fire. When Amma heard about the impoverished living conditions of some of the families, She immediately decided to provide new homes.
Disater Relief
The overall efforts are truly massive and widespread: from providing immediate aid in the form of temporary shelters, food, clothing, medical assistance, and basic needs, to long term projects which include the construction of new homes, distribution of new boats, and providing vocational training, education, and pensions to those in need. The Ashram was also the first NGO in India to complete construction of new homes.
But, in truth, altogether the value of the project is in effect nearly $46 million, as so much of the work is being done by volunteers. 
more than 100 Amma service groups throughout North America responded by giving carloads, vanloads and truckloads of food, clothing, school supplies and other essential items.Extensive medical care and emotional support was given. Volunteers visited relief sites and
helped displaced persons locate one another, via the Internet.
Gujurat Earthquake: The devastating earthquake that struck Gujarat in 2001 claimed the lives of almost
20,000 people. Amma’s response to the disaster was immediate. AIMS Hospital dispatched
a disaster-relief team of a dozen surgeons and two fully equipped ambulances
that facilitated expert trauma care in the devastated areas. The doctors
performed lifesaving operations in extremely makeshift conditions. One hundred
students from Amrita University helped the relief work by recovering bodies from the
rubble, distributing clothes and feeding and comforting the survivors.