October 2, 2003 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The American Red Cross says its Disaster Relief Fund — which was empty last month as Hurricane Isabel began threatening the East Coast — had accumulated more than $4.4-million in donations and pledges last week after the organization renewed its appeals for gifts.
The newly contributed dollars will help the organization continue to carry out its Isabel relief efforts, but are far short of the money the Red Cross needs to cope with the aftermath of Isabel and with any new disasters that may arise, said Devorah Goldberg, a Red Cross spokeswoman. The Red Cross estimates that it will initially spend $14-million to $17-million to help victims of Hurricane Isabel. “The Red Cross still needs to aggressively raise money and continue to get the word out to the American people, our donors, and our corporate sponsors that we’re not in the clear yet,” said Ms. Goldberg.
To be prepared for future crises, the Red Cross — which had to dip into its general operating fund even before Hurricane Isabel struck — has a longstanding goal of having at least $50-million in its disaster-relief pot. The fund had $68-million at one point last year.
Since July 2002, the Red Cross has spent $114.3-million to provide relief to victims of major disasters, while raising $39.5-million for its special disaster fund. “Disasters have outpaced contributions,” said Ms. Goldberg.
The shortage of disaster funds at the time Isabel moved inland meant that the Red Cross had to focus its dollars on hurricane victims’ immediate needs — such as food, clothing, and shelter — rather than planning for long-term financial assistance to people, said Ms. Goldberg.
The fund’s precipitous decline was probably due to many factors, said Ms. Goldberg, including the poor economy and the abundance of appeals for relief efforts in Iraq and for other causes.
Ms. Goldberg said the charity was also battling perceptions that the Red Cross could use money raised following the September 11 attacks to cover other disasters. However, money that was donated to help victims of the terrorist attacks — earmarked through the Red Cross Liberty Disaster Relief Fund — can only be spent for that purpose.
Red Cross officials do not believe that the disaster fund’s shortfall is related to controversial charges after the terrorist attacks that the Red Cross had misled donors about how their funds would be used at that time. Said Ms. Goldberg: “Our research shows that trust in our organization is back up to pre-9/11 levels.”
