Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief
We have all watched in disbelief as the story of Katrina and its
devastating impact has unfolded. Another developing story is about
the philanthropic community's contributions toward the relief efforts.
We will keep you informed via email of the various opportunities
to support the hurricane relief efforts. The long-term needs of
those affected will be immense.
So far, Americans have donated over $504 million to relief efforts,
including $169 million from businesses and foundations, with the
American Red Cross receiving $409 million, the Chronicle
of Philanthropy reported Sept. 6.
SDG Members Respond
Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Fieldstone Foundation
Holland America Line
Invitrogen Corporation
QUALCOMM Incorporated
Rancho Santa Fe Foundation
San Diego National Bank
San Diego Social Venture Partners
Union Bank of California
WD-40 Company (not an SDG member)
WebMD Health Foundation, Inc.
Weingart-Price Fund
Tell us about your response!
Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Amylin has
donated $100,000 to the American Red Cross and will match all employee
contributions up to an additional $100,000 through September 9 (already,
$21,000 has been raised and matched). Amylin is also donating $50,000
to the Pennington Medical Center at the Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge for the establishment of an emergency diabetes clinic
to serve individuals who are now homeless or unable to access proper
care and medications.
Fieldstone Foundation
Fieldstone
is matching employee donations and will be making a foundation gift
to an organization involved in relief efforts. Fieldstone is also
considering making local gifts in San Antonio and Salt Lake City,
where some hurricane victims have been dispatched, to support those
being displaced in these communities.
Holland America Line
Holland
America Line is making a corporate donation to the American
Red Cross to aid in the relief efforts, as well as implementing
a donation program for guests onboard and employees. Holland America
Line will match these donations up to $100,000. Click
here for more information.
Invitrogen Corporation
In support of the disaster relief efforts already underway in Louisiana
and neighboring areas, Invitrogen
will be contributing $10,000 to the American Red Cross and matching
employee contributions up to an additional $10,000. For the universities,
medical centers and research facilities ravaged by the storm, Invitrogen
will supply in-kind donations to help scientists continue their
quest to improve the human condition.
QUALCOMM Incorporated
QUALCOMM
is making a $1M donation to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund and matching
employee donations to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations responding
to the disaster. The company is also providing a variety of technology
resources and expertise to help meet the critical needs of relief
workers and hurricane victims.
As a technology provider and enabler of government communications,
QUALCOMM is responding to U.S. Government needs and supporting government
organizations with QUALCOMM products and resources. QUALCOMM has
delivered a deployable base station, commercial phones provisioned
to work on the base station, OmniTRACS units and Globalstar phones
to enable communications and aid relief efforts. QUALCOMM employees
worked around-the-clock to prepare the equipment for shipment. Employees
are also on-site for technical support and are witnessing the destruction
firsthand. Over the weekend, QUALCOMM employees physically hauled
base station equipment into the upper floors of a flooded building
that FEMA is using as their headquarters for St. Bernard Parish
in Louisiana and are working today to get power to that equipment
and get it online.
QUALCOMM is able to provide this immediate and urgently needed
assistance because QUALCOMM Government Technologies (QGOV) has been
working with FEMA, the National Communications System and Northern
Command (the Department of Defense Agency charged with coordination
between the Department of Homeland Security and state/local first
responders during disaster events) for several months to provide
them enhanced situational awareness and mobile, secure, broadband
communications for end users at the incident site.
In partnership with Novatel Wireless, QUALCOMM will also support
the donation of 1,000 PC cards that will be bundled with Lenovo
notebook computers and donated to relief workers to assist with
recovery efforts.
Rancho Santa Fe Foundation
The Rancho
Santa Fe Foundation, in partnership with the Rancho Santa Fe
Review newspaper and local non-profits, has announced its Disaster
Relief Fund for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. So far, nearly
$45,000 has been committed. All donations to the RSFF are fully
tax deductible and will be forwarded to the American Red Cross -
San Diego Chapter. Checks should be made payable to the Rancho Santa
Fe Foundation and in the memo line, please write Disaster Relief
Fund - Katrina. Donations may be sent to:
Christy Wilson - Executive Director
Rancho Santa Fe Foundation
P.O. Box 811
Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067
phone: (858) 756-6557
fax: (858)756-6561
San Diego National Bank
San Diego National
Bank employees and clients donated $11,700, and the bank matched
up to $10,000 – combining for a grand total of $21,700 to support
the disaster relief efforts of the Salvation Army.
San Diego Social Venture
Partners
SDSVP recommends
supporting the Rescue
Task Force, a non-profit, non-denominational relief agency (based
in Imperial Beach, CA) that responds to natural and man-made disasters
world-wide, including wildfires here in San Diego as well as Hurricane
Katrina.
Union Bank of California
The UBOC Foundation
has granted $50,000 to the American Red Cross. The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi
(Union Bank of California's majority shareholder) is donating an
additional $200,000 to the American Red Cross. The UBOC Foundation
Invest in Life Charitable Giving Program matches employee donations
at 66 2/3 cents on the dollar. Additionally, all UBOC branches (including
Cash & Save locations) are collecting donations made payable
to the American Red Cross, which have already totalled more than
$25,000. UBOC will then ensure that those donations are forwarded
to the American Red Cross. Union Bank grantees Operation HOPE and
2-1-1 San Diego are also responding to the crisis. Additionally,
the bank is waiving ATM surcharges for recipients of relief cash-cards,
and bank employees are sheltering some of the evacuees who have
relocated to California.
WD-40 Company (not
an SDG member)
WD-40 Company has sent a cash donation of $60,000 through the American
Red Cross and is planning to donate a shipment of its products once
the re-building stage is underway at a later date.
WebMD Health Foundation,
Inc.
WebMD Health Foundation, Inc. has set up a fund at the Community
Foundation of Greater Birmingham and at the Baton Rouge Area Foundation
for the employees of WebMD. Both funds are designated the for medical
and healthcare costs of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. WebMD
Health Foundation, Inc. will match all donations made by WebMD employees
up to $500,000.
Weingart-Price Fund
The Weingart
Price Fund has granted $100,000 to the American Red Cross for
relief of Hurricane Katrina.
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Other National Relief
Efforts
Grantmakers in Aging
Hurricane Fund for the Elderly
As the only philanthropic affinity group effort to focus specifically on the needs of older persons, the Fund occupies a unique place in Gulf States recovery process. Partnering with the Administration on Aging (AoA), the Fund represents a “first” for GIA. This collaboration of philanthropy and the aging service delivery system promises to be both powerful and effective. Martin C. Lehfeldt, President of the Southeastern Council of Foundations, has agreed to chair the Hurricane Fund for the Elderly. Jennifer W. Campbell, PhD has been named as the director of the Fund.
The goal of the Hurricane Fund is ambitious and the problems facing seniors in the affected states are daunting.
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More than 5 million persons aged 60 and older live in the Gulf States affected by the hurricanes of 2005 that devastated lives and shredded communities.
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The need for assistance as a result of the hurricanes overwhelmed the emergency response system.
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The vulnerability of the older adults in the Gulf States cannot be overstated. In Louisiana alone, 48 percent of the state’s older persons were evacuated.
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In the four-state area affected by the storms over 700,000 seniors either temporarily or permanently left their homes or nursing facilities to live in shelters.
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Communities that provided informal but vital assistance and reassurance have either disappeared or were seriously damaged.
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The interwoven and fragile alliance of public and private services that is the backbone of the health and human service system has been critically ruptured.
As the Greater New
Orleans Foundation lost their offices in the disaster, they
have worked together with the Baton
Rouge Area Foundation to establish two new funds in response
to the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Katrina:
The Hurricane Katrina Displaced Residents Fund
will benefit those individuals and families evacuated to Baton
Rouge, who are now unable to return for what may be an extended
period. Early official estimates suggest that as many as 500,000
individuals have been displaced for up to six months, and will
face numerous challenges related to housing, food, education,
healthcare and basic survival necessities.
The Hurricane Katrina New Orleans Recovery Fund
will focus on the rebuilding of infrastructure to provide basic
human services to residents of the devastated areas.
Tax deductible donations to one or both of these funds are now
being accepted online at www.braf.org.
The Community
Foundation of Greater Birmingham, has also established the following
two funds:
Hurricane Katrina Displaced Residents Fund:
Donations will be used to support organizations and programs meeting
the food, education, health care and basic survival needs of people
who have been evacuated to the greater Birmingham area from the
Gulf Coast regions.
Hurricane Katrina Recovery Fund – Alabama,
Louisiana or Mississippi: Contributions to this fund will be directed
according to the wishes of the donor and can be specified for
recovery efforts in Alabama, Louisiana or Mississippi. Contributions
will be processed locally, without administrative fee, and forwarded
to the community foundations serving these areas as they focus
on rebuilding infrastructure and providing basic human services
to residents of each state.
The Foundation
for the Mid South is a regional public charity that has established
the Hurricane
Katrina Recovery and Restoration Fund to provide financial resources
to nonprofits working to rebuild the lives and communities of the
people of Southern Louisiana, the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and the
Alabama Gulf Coast. FMS has also helped Entergy
Corporation establish a fund to benefit its customers and employees
who were impacted by Hurricane Katrina. The Power
of Hope Fund will be used to help disaster victims rebuild their
lives in the aftermath of the storm. Entergy Corporation launched
the fund with a corporate contribution of $1 million. For details,
visit: http://www.fndmidsouth.org.
The Community
Foundation of Shreveport-Bossier has now set up a Hurricane
Katrina Fund to benefit those individuals and families evacuated
to the Shreveport-Bossier area from impacted regions, who are now
unable to return for what may be an extended period. One hundred
percent of the funds received by The Community Foundation of Shreveport-Bossier
will be directed to those charitable entities and programs in the
area that endeavor to meet these critical needs, as well as address
the impact this influx of residents will have on the community.
Donations may be sent to Hurricane Katrina Fund of The Community
Foundation of Shreveport-Bossier 401 Edwards Street, Suite 105 Shreveport,
Louisiana 71101 or made online at http://www.comfoundsb.org.
The Community
Foundation of Greater Jackson, Mississippi has created the Hurricane
Katrina Victim Assistance Fund. To give, click
here.
Grantmakers In
Aging (GIA) has launched a new Hurricane Fund for the Elderly,
in a public/private partnership with the Administration on Aging
to serve older adults affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This
fund will be a new vehicle for directing philanthropic dollars and
resources to organizations providing services to our vulnerable
older population in the Gulf States. Two GIA members, The Atlantic
Philanthropies and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, have already
committed significant support both to administer the Hurricane Fund
and to place monies in the Fund itself. The aim is to ensure that
100 percent of dollars raised by the Fund go
to projects that provide for the emergency, intermediate, and long-term
needs of the elderly in the region. To learn more about the 'Hurricane
Fund for the Elderly' or to pledge
support, please contact Carol
A. Farquhar.
Other organizations that are engaged in relief efforts
and tracking relief efforts include the following:
November 17 Teleconference
Funding Strategies When Hurricane Aid Ends: How Families Can Help
the Gulf Coast Region in the Long Term
Additionally, you are invited to participate in this teleconference
sponsored by the National Center for Family Philanthropy, the Southeastern
Council of Foundations and the Donors Forum of South Florida.
This special edition of the Family Philanthropy Teleconference Series
will focus on the long-term role of family funders in the rebuilding
efforts following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf Coast.
The complimentary call will feature updates from the areas affected
on their current status and expected long-term needs and a briefing
from the national perspective on long-term disaster recovery needs
and lessons learned from other hurricanes, with Harve Mogul of the
United Way. It will also feature one family foundation trustee's
story of her family's approach to long-term rebuilding in South
Florida, with Deborah Bussel of the Shepard Broad Foundation of
Miami.
WHEN: NOVEMBER 17, 2005 12-1:30 pm (EASTERN TIME)
Registration is free thanks to the generous sponsorship of A+ Conferencing,
but you must register
here to participate.
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Building a Record
of Philanthropic Response
When we are asked by the media and colleagues about San Diego's
response, we'd like to share your stories. Please share with us
-- and with your colleagues -- what you are doing. As you take action,
please email the information.
To help you form your own response, you may want
to consult the publication, Disaster
Grantmaking: A Practical Guide for Foundations and Corporations.
You can download this free booklet from the Council on Foundations
website that includes practical advice, examples and resources.
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