Seven thousand dollars is a drop in the bucket for an ocean of misery, but the local Burmese refugees who helped raise money for Cyclone Nargis victims Sunday hope it will help in some small way.

Their anguish is a mixture of grief over death and destruction wrought by the May 3 cyclone and the Burmese military dictatorship's exploitation of it. Up to 128,000 people are dead or missing according to the Red Cross, and thousands more might die. CNN reports that the death toll may be more than 100,000.

The United Nations estimates just 20 percent of survivors have received aid, according to the New York Times.

So the approximately 200 locals who gathered at Sunset Hall donated money, ate food at booths set up in the hall, listened to Burmese music and hoped their dollars and the millions donated worldwide get through.

“These donations will be going to the victims directly,” said Kyi Zaw as he exchanged cash for coupons for the food booths. “We're not using any channels like UNICEF or International (Red) Cross. We're not using any of those channels because they are bureaucratic systems.” Thiha B. Kyi, one of the fundraiser organizers, said donations will be distributed to cyclone survivors by an artists group inside Burma. A cyclone is an extremely powerful hurricane.

“Hopefully, (the money) can reach to the people,” he said. “If the government figures it out, they will try to stop (them).”

The dictatorship, known as the State Peace and Development Council, changed the name of Burma to Myanmar. The dictatorship has been accused of hoarding food and obstructing aid efforts.

Kyi is frustrated that so much help hasn't reached survivors. While the government has allowed more than a dozen U.S. military aid flights in, some 60 nautical miles from Burma's hard-hit Irrawaddy Delta, the supply-laden U.S.S. Essex has waited since Tuesday for approval to unload, according to the BBC. “We just want to help,” U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Scott E. Erdelatz told the BBC.

“This is inhuman,” British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the BBC this weekend. “It is being made into a manmade crisis.”

Brown said humanitarian groups say air drops are unfeasible, and he downplayed the idea of U.N. military action to ensure aid gets through. But Kyi noted military-backed humanitarian actions by the United States and U.N. against hostile governments are not unprecedented.

In 1991, the U.S. provided aid, carved out a “safe haven” and enacted a no-fly zone to protect Kurdish Iraqis in northern Iraq. The U.S. and U.N. provided food to famine- stricken Somalis in an ill-fated effort that ended in 1993. In 1999 - in an air campaign primarily carried out by the U.S. military - the U.N. bombed Serbia and set up military bases in Kosovo after accusing Serbians of genocide against Albanians in Kosovo.

Kyi said international military force would have widespread Burmese support and likely lead to a coup d'etat.

“The military would crack,” Kyi said. “The army soldiers, the high-ranking officers, they also feel something is wrong and they see people suffering.”

Zaw also supports a more forceful effort through airdrops or armed escorts of aid convoys by U.N. forces. Zaw acknowledged international use of force is complicated, but he believes a humanitarian crisis trumps national sovereignty and self-determination.

“The Burmese government is still denying international experts coming into Burma,” Zaw said. “That is ridiculous.”

The Rev. Jim Keller understands the frustration of Kyi and Zaw. Fort Wayne is home to some 3,500 Burmese refugees - the largest Burmese refugee population in the U.S. - and about 80 worship at The New Life Lutheran Church where Keller is pastor. Keller doubts military action will occur, but he hopes the U.S. and U.N. pressure China, Burma's largest arms supplier and economic partner, to allow aid in.

Keller is confident local donations will reach survivors and he's hopeful something positive will come from the cyclone.

“The hope is that now that the international focus has been on Burma and everyone sees what the Burmese government is willing to allow to happen to their people for the sake of their control, pressure will be on for changes,” Keller said.