http://philanthropy.com/free/update/2005/01/2005010303.htm
$163-Million Donated to Charities for Tsunami Relief
By Nicole Wallace
Donations have streamed in to relief organizations that
are providing aid to victims of the deadly earthquake and tsunamis in South Asia. American relief charities have raised more than $163-million, with much
of the money coming in online.
- A week after the December 26 catastrophe, the American Red Cross
has raised $79.2-million.
- Catholic Relief Services, in Baltimore, has brought in
$14.4-million, $8-million of which was donated online.
- Save the Children, in Westport, Conn., has received more than
$14-million in contributions, with $6-million coming through the
organization's Web site.
- World Vision USA, in Federal Way, Wash., has received gifts
totaling more than $12-million. Internationally, World Vision has
raised $25-million.
- Oxfam America, in Boston, has raised $12-million, $10-million of
which has come in online. Oxfam International affiliates have together
raised more than $40-million for relief efforts.
- CARE USA, in Atlanta, has collected between $9-million and
$10-million for its relief efforts.
- The International Rescue Committee, in New York, has raised nearly
$2-million. In the week after the disaster, the organization received
more than $800,000 in Internet gifts, which is more than double the
amount it raised online during its last fiscal year.
In the week since the disaster, Doctors Without Borders, in New York,
has raised more than $20-million. Three days after the disaster, the
organization posted a notice on the donation page of its Web site
asking donors to give the organization permission to use their gifts
for other emergencies in the event that the group had already raised
enough money for its operations in South Asia.
More than $9-million of money the charity raised so far has been
designated specifically for use in response to the disaster in South
Asia, while donors said the remaining $11-million was to be used first
in South Asia, but can be used elsewhere if the money was not needed
for tsunami relief.
Doctors Without Borders now believes that it has raised enough for its
emergency response in South Asia, and has posted a notice on its Web
site donation page asking donors to contribute to the organization's
general Emergency Relief Fund.
"We kindly request that you contribute to our general Emergency Relief
Fund, which is enabling our quick response to the current disaster in
South Asia as well as humanitarian needs in war-torn Darfur, Sudan, and
elsewhere in the over 70 countries where MSF is working around the
world," the statement reads. "The Emergency Relief Fund provides a
resource for MSF to draw upon immediately when a crisis occurs,
allowing a quick response to events where the speed of our response is
crucial to saving lives."