The New Orleans branch of Catholic Charities says it has nearly exhausted relief funds provided by BP for financial assistance, food, and emergency counseling for families affected by the Gulf Coast oil spill, The Times-Picayune writes.
Since May, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and partner groups have disbursed $1.8-million to families in hard-hit coastal areas, $1-million of which came from the oil company whose drilling rig exploded in April, causing the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.
Jim Kelly, the charity’s co-president, said it is now spending its reserves and appealing to foundations and other donors for a cash infusion, “but the majors are telling us this is a BP and government problem.”
Darryl Willis, vice president of BP, said the company is still considering a $12-million relief plan Catholic Charities and other groups submitted in June and that a decision “will be coming shortly.”
In other Gulf news, a Florida naturalist is taking a page from the Bible to help preserve wildlife threatened by the oil spill, the Associated Press reports.
Jack Rudloe launched Operation Noah’s Ark at his nonprofit laboratory south of Tallahassee, gathering more than 350 species of aquatic creatures in an environment that features a grassland and duplicates the tides.
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One Response to La. Charity Says It Has Little BP Money Left to Aid Gulf Victims
allenj37 - August 5, 2010 at 4:21 pm
There is a culture of entitlement and welfare dependency in New Orleans that stretches back over two or three generations. Let’s hope the Catholic agencies are spending the BP money on people who have actually been put out of work or otherwise financially harmed by the spill and not on that bunch of sponges in New Orleans!