RBM
CAGiversary!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/26/AR2006022601383.html
Two-Thirds of Katrina Donations Exhausted
Charities Faced With Difficult Decisions and Countless Requests as They Spend What Is Left
By Jacqueline L. Salmon and Leef Smith Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, February 27, 2006; Page A01
Six months after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the Gulf Coast, charities have disbursed more than $2 billion of the record sums they raised for the storm's victims, leaving less than $1 billion for the monumental task of helping hundreds of thousands of storm victims rebuild their lives, according to a survey by The Washington Post.
Two-thirds of the $3.27 billion raised by private nonprofit organizations and tracked by The Post went to help evacuees and other Katrina victims with immediate needs -- cash, food and temporary shelter, medical care, tarps for damaged homes and school supplies for displaced children.
· The American Red Cross, which was criticized for slow distribution of donations after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, has given out 84 percent of its Katrina and Rita donations.
· 50 cents of each donated dollar went out in cash to victims.
· 6 percent of contributions came in the form of supplies -- building materials, food, water, clothing, heavy equipment -- donated mostly by corporations.
· 56 percent of remaining donations are controlled by faith-based organizations. They include such well-known institutions as Catholic Charities USA and the Salvation Army but also such lower-profile groups as the United Methodist Committee on Relief and United Jewish Communities.
*******
I suppose in a best case scenario, we would have been well-prepared for disaster relief--with Sept 11th as a wake-up call for such a need--and allocated funds in an efficient manner so as to get disaster victims back on their feet & into normal, productive lives in as timely a fashion as possible.
We do not seem to have achieved anything close to the ideal target. How has our government become so inept at handling disaster relief funds?
For anyone who is interested (and has the patience to sit through hours of congressional hearings,) the Q & A session between members of Congress and Michael Brown & members of the Dept of Homeland Security (which FEMA is now a part of) provides some answers as to what went wrong with the handling of disaster relief after Katrina:
Michael Brown's testimony (former head of FEMA)
Michael Chertoff's testimony (the director of the Dept of Homeland Security)
(and the page in general, so you can choose individual hearings)
Two-Thirds of Katrina Donations Exhausted
Charities Faced With Difficult Decisions and Countless Requests as They Spend What Is Left
By Jacqueline L. Salmon and Leef Smith Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, February 27, 2006; Page A01
Six months after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the Gulf Coast, charities have disbursed more than $2 billion of the record sums they raised for the storm's victims, leaving less than $1 billion for the monumental task of helping hundreds of thousands of storm victims rebuild their lives, according to a survey by The Washington Post.
Two-thirds of the $3.27 billion raised by private nonprofit organizations and tracked by The Post went to help evacuees and other Katrina victims with immediate needs -- cash, food and temporary shelter, medical care, tarps for damaged homes and school supplies for displaced children.
· The American Red Cross, which was criticized for slow distribution of donations after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, has given out 84 percent of its Katrina and Rita donations.
· 50 cents of each donated dollar went out in cash to victims.
· 6 percent of contributions came in the form of supplies -- building materials, food, water, clothing, heavy equipment -- donated mostly by corporations.
· 56 percent of remaining donations are controlled by faith-based organizations. They include such well-known institutions as Catholic Charities USA and the Salvation Army but also such lower-profile groups as the United Methodist Committee on Relief and United Jewish Communities.
*******
I suppose in a best case scenario, we would have been well-prepared for disaster relief--with Sept 11th as a wake-up call for such a need--and allocated funds in an efficient manner so as to get disaster victims back on their feet & into normal, productive lives in as timely a fashion as possible.
We do not seem to have achieved anything close to the ideal target. How has our government become so inept at handling disaster relief funds?
For anyone who is interested (and has the patience to sit through hours of congressional hearings,) the Q & A session between members of Congress and Michael Brown & members of the Dept of Homeland Security (which FEMA is now a part of) provides some answers as to what went wrong with the handling of disaster relief after Katrina:
Michael Brown's testimony (former head of FEMA)
Michael Chertoff's testimony (the director of the Dept of Homeland Security)
(and the page in general, so you can choose individual hearings)
