August 28, 2009
Foundation and Corporate Donations for Hurricane Katrina Total $1.3-Billion
By Caroline Preston
Foundations and corporations have donated more than $1.3-billion in cash and products in response to the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes Katrina and Rita, according to a new report.
The study, by the Foundation Center, released on the eve of the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, found that the vast majority of those grants and product donations came in the first 16 months after the disasters.
But private and community foundations gave at least $133-million for rebuilding and recovery efforts between the start of 2007 and mid-2009, according to the study.
Not surprisingly, grant makers shifted their focus to longer-term reconstruction needs.
Twenty-four percent of the money awarded by 112 independent, corporate, and private foundations studied went to economic and community development.
Nineteen-percent went to human services, 18 percent to education, and 14 percent to civil rights and public affairs.
“We’re well into the phase of recovery and rebuilding,” said Larry McGill, senior vice president for research with the Foundation Center.
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