Fund Raising for Hurricane Katrina: a Sampling of Charity Efforts

American Friends Service Committee

Philadelphia
Amount raised: $2,386,439
Amount committed: $597,190
Where the money went: Awarded $250,000

to BlackAmericaWeb.
com, an online news site that provides news about issues of importance to African-Americans. In addition, the committee gave a total of $101,000 to 18 small groups, including Quaker organizations and other churches, a theater group, and two advocacy organizations. The organization also gave $31,000 to Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston to help hurricane evacuees in Houston.

American National Red Cross

Washington
Amount raised: $2,067,000,000
Amount committed: $1,787,000,000
Where the money went: To provide food, shelter, clothing, counseling, and emergency financial assistance to hurricane survivors. About $1.45-billion has been spent on emergency financial assistance for approximately 3.7 million people. The organization plans to spend an additional $198-million to finance long-term recovery needs, such as helping storm survivors gain access to health care and other community resources they need to rebuild their lives. (Figures for amounts raised and committed are as of March 31.)

America’s Second Harvest

Chicago
Amount raised: $29,356,710
Amount committed: $22,178,502
Where the money went: To buy food for hurricane victims and deliver it to them. More than $4-million went to Second Harvest’s member food banks that were feeding the survivors. The charity is combining money it raised for Hurricane Katrina relief with an additional $4.7-million raised from a fund it created in the aftermath of Hurricanes Rita and Wilma to provide food to victims of all of last year’s hurricanes.

AmeriCares Foundation

Stamford, Conn.
Amount raised: $13,500,000
Amount committed: $4,500,000
Where the money went: To deliver donated supplies to medical organizations, shelters, and social-service groups in the Gulf Coast region. AmeriCares gave $100,000 to the Southern Mutual Help Association, in New Iberia, La., which aids the rural poor, and gave $75,000 apiece to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and the Community Foundation of Acadiana, in Lafayette, La., to help them build their capacity to meet the region’s needs.

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now

Brooklyn, N.Y.
Amount raised: $5,278,448
Amount committed: $4,257,203
Where the money went: To pay for cleanup of debris and gutting of houses in impoverished neighborhoods devastated by the hurricane and to undertake community-based efforts designed to make sure poor people are getting a voice in decisions about how their neighborhoods will be rebuilt. In addition, some funds went to rebuild the charity’s New Orleans office.

Baton Rouge Area Foundation
Amount raised:

$41,500,000
Amount committed: $25,500,000
Where the money went: The Baton Rouge group gave $4-million to the Greater New Orleans Foundation that was collected via its Hurricane Katrina New Orleans Recovery Fund. The Baton Rouge foundation also created the Hurricane Katrina Displaced Residents Fund to aid storm survivors who evacuated to Baton Rouge or the surrounding region. Through the fund, 431 charities have received $12.9-million to take care of basic needs such as food, shelter and security, and both physical and mental health care, along with education and employment.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Atlanta
Amount raised: $3,367,775
Amount committed: $2,000,000
Where the money went: To Boys & Girls Clubs chapters to help them aid families displaced by last year’s hurricanes and to allow chapters that were damged by Katrina to rebuild their facilities and provide services. (Figure for amount committed is an estimate.)

Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund

Philadelphia
Amount raised: $129,000,000
Amount committed: $66,000,000
Where the money went: A total of $30-million went to 33 colleges and universities, of which $20-million has been paid so far; the rest will be distributed by the end of the summer. The group also allocated $40-million to recovery funds set up by the governors of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi to take care of hurricane-related needs in their states, of which $27.6-million has been awarded, with the remainder due this fall. About $15.8-million was given to community projects focused on health, housing, and other needs, with $20-million to be awarded by the end of the year. In addition, $20-million has been allocated to Gulf Coast religious organizations, of which $1.5-million has been paid, with the remainder expected to be distributed by the end of the summer.

Campus Crusade for Christ

International
Orlando, Fla.
Amount raised: $3,500,000
Amount committed: $3,500,000
Where the money went: To give provisions such as bottled water and food to cleanup crew volunteers and Gulf Coast residents. The charity is also paying for a long-term project that has recruited nearly 10,000 student volunteers to clean hurricane debris from schools in Louisiana and Mississippi and reconstruct damaged homes.

Capital Area United Way

Baton Rouge, La.
Amount raised: $3,504,680
Amount committed: $1,526,810
Where the money went: To an array of social-service and health groups that served storm survivors.
The United Way spent $60,000 on a command center that initially served as a distribution center for donated goods for 10 counties around Baton Rouge and also as a source of information for the 130 shelters in the area that housed people who fled New Orleans.

Catholic Charities USA

Alexandria, Va.
Amount raised: $146,471,577
Amount committed: $140,519,005
Where the money went: To provide direct cash assistance to storm victims, including mortgage or rental assistance, and coverage of moving, transportation, and utility costs. The organization also provided housing, clothing, and gift cards to purchase other necessities, mental-health and crisis counseling services, and employment assistance. Catholic Charities is also helping to gut and rebuild storm-damaged homes in the Gulf Coast region.

Christian and Missionary Alliance

Colorado Springs
Amount raised: $2,017,851
Amount committed: $1,722,328
Where the money went: More than $1.3-million went to Southern District Community Centers, in Baton Rouge, La., Gulfport, Miss., and New Orleans for hurricane-relief efforts. In addition, the charity gave more than $250,000 to Genesis Church, which coordinated relief work in Waveland, Miss., with other area Baptist congregations. Additional grants went to needy hurricane survivors and to Gulf Coast churches and religious organizations — including colleges — that offered assistance to hurricane victims.

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee

Grand Rapids, Mich.
Amount raised: $6,000,000
Amount committed: $1,800,000
Where the money went: Some $1.2-million went to charities working in in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi to rebuild homes for Katrina survivors. The charity also spent about $200,000 to resettle evacuees from New Orleans. Christian Reformed World Relief has also committed to rebuilding efforts for the next three years in Gulfport and Laurel, Miss., and in Slidell, La. Over the next two years it plans to give $1-million to organizations working on recovery efforts in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, including an economic-development project.

Church World Service

Elkhart, Ind.
Amount raised: $5,500,000
Amount committed: $2,800,000
Where the money went: To help local organizations coordinate volunteers to rebuild homes, to aid recovery operations in neighborhoods overlooked by others, and to hold workshops to support members of the clergy and people who take care of the sick and elderly. It also helped Gulf Coast residents exposed to environmental contamination take steps to avoid health problems. It replaced supplies at 13 damaged schools, and gave support to 10 mentor programs for troubled teenagers.

Direct Relief International

Santa Barbara, Calif.
Amount raised: $4,776,716
Amount committed: $4,185,882
Where the money went: To aid hospitals and medical organizations in the Gulf Coast region, including $250,000 to replace equipment at Touro Infirmary, in New Orleans; $300,000 to do the same for the Blood Center, also in New Orleans, and $150,000 to improve information technology at three rural Louisiana hospitals. Also established a call center to convey information on available medical services through the Gulfport Memorial Hospital, in Mississippi.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Foundation

Chicago
Amount raised: $25,319,741
Amount committed: $18,729,251
Where the money went: More than $7.2-million was awarded to Lutheran social-services organizations in 16 states that work directly with hurricane survivors.

Foundation for the Mid South

Jackson, Miss.
Amount raised: $12,700,000
Amount committed: $8,600,000
Where the money went: To support nearly 200 charities and churches in the Gulf Coast region, of which $3.4-million was for operating support. The community foundation also awarded money to more than 4,000 individuals.

Goodwill Industries International

Bethesda, Md.
Amount raised: $2,000,000
Amount committedt: $1,800,000
Where the money went: To Goodwill affiliates along the Gulf Coast to help them rebuild their facilities and enable them to provide social services, especially help with job training and assistance, to hurricane victims. The remaining donations will be given to Goodwill’s New Orleans affiliate to repair or rebuild its facility.

Greater Houston Community Foundation
Amount raised:

$75,404,077
Amount spent: $73,496,064
Where the money went: More than $60-million went to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, which distributed money for hurricane recovery. Grants were also made to support nonprofit organizations working in Houston and around the Gulf Coast region, including nearly $1.4-million each to the Children’s Heatlh Fund, in New York, and Habitat for Humanity International, in Americus, Ga. A total of $1.4-million was awarded to MusicCares and the Grammy Foundation, both in Santa Monica, Calif. The foundation also gave money directly to people who suffered damage because of the storm.

Habitat for Humanity International

Americus, Ga.
Amount raised: $121,944,882
Amount committed: $25,300,000
Where the money went: To build houses in the Gulf Coast region. As of August 1, nearly 400 houses were completed or under construction. Habitat has set a goal of building 1,000 houses in the region by midsummer 2007. The organization also gave $450,000 to Church World Service, and $255,000 to Lutheran Social Services of the South to help establish a center for hurricane survivors in need of aid.

Humane Society of the United States

Washington
Amount raised: $30,000,000
Amount committed: $25,000,000
Where the money went: More than $7.5-million was spent to reconstruct animal shelters in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas that were damaged by last year’s hurricanes. An additional $5.5-million was spent to rescue more than 10,000 animals and set up temporary shelters for pets. The organization also operated a reunion center that matched about 2,500 people with their missing pets. (Figures for the amounts raised and committed includes money raised and spent on other disasters as well as Katrina.)

International Rescue Committee

New York
Amount raised: $2,191,338
Amount committed: $1,543,124
Where the money went: To help Gulf Coast residents displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita resettle in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Miami, and Seattle. The charity offered hurricane survivors basic necessities as well as mental-health counseling services and guidance in getting additional aid from the federal goverment. Money not yet spent will be used for projects that assist hurricane victims.

Jewish Federation/Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago
Amount raised:

$2,106,988
Amount spent: $1,613,670
Where the money went: The bulk — $926,000 — went to United Jewish Communities, in New York, to distribute to local charities. The Chicago organization also gave $250,000 to its local United Way, which is supporting charities that serve hurricane evacuees who relocated to the Chicago metropolitan area.

Mennonite Disaster Service

Akron, Ohio
Amount raised: $6,000,000
Amount committed: $2,000,000
Where the money went: To support food, housing, and transportation for volunteers working on hurricane-recovery projects along the Gulf Coast, to buy materials and insurance for homeowners, and to provide stipends for long-term volunteers. The charity also supported a project to help owners of small businesses in New Orleans rebuild.

Mercy Corps

Portland, Ore.
Amount raised: $10,137,461
Amount committed: $7,607,869
Where the money went: To charities that serve youths and to schools to help support their social services. Mercy Corps also paid for neighborhood-revitalization projects, including one that helps residents salvage damaged homes. The charity’s Comfort for Kids program gave mental-health support to children, families, teachers, and caregivers affected by the storm. The group also made loans to small businesses and entrepreneurs to help jumpstart local economies with services.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Baltimore
Amount raised: $3,000,000
Amount committed: $2,000,000
Where the money went: To set up five centers that provided storm survivors across the country with school supplies, food, emergency health care and immunizations, and housing grants. In conjunction with the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity, the NAACP built 25 homes for Gulf Coast hurricane victims, and recently started a new campaign to raise money to build 75 more. The organization also plans to set up a Gulf Coast advocacy center.

National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States

Washington
Amount raised: $1,475,159
Amount committed: $1,032,263
Where the money went: To the Preservation Resource Center, in New Orleans, which received $61,375. Donations also paid for staff members to show low- and moderate-income New Orleans and Mississippi residents how to create plans for rehabilitating their homes, and for them to run workshops on emergency repairs and treatment of flood damage, and work with federal and city officials to determine which homes could be saved. The charity also provided small emergency grants to homeowners to prevent damage to their properties and do initial recovery work. Donations also financed a successful advocacy campaign to persuade Congress to appropriate $40-million for grants to aid homeowners in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Operation USA

Los Angeles
Amount raised: $2,200,000
Amount committed: $1,300,000
Where the money went: To ship medicines, medical supplies, and equipment to 60 clinics in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The charity also gave more than $700,000 to 50 nonprofit clinics in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi that provided emergency aid and are now taking care of many people whose lives were uprooted by the hurricane. Operation USA also delivered generators, diapers, and other hygiene products to clinics and shelters. It distributed backpacks stuffed with educational materials to elementary schools in Louisiana and Mississippi, along with children’s books and toys. The charity is also working with the Foundation for the Mid South, in Jackson, Miss., and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation to support clinics that offer mental-health and primary-care services.

Oxfam America

Boston
Amount raised: $3,070,880
Amount committed: $1,657,796
Where the money went: A $100,000 grant was made to the Rand Corporation to assess low-cost housing needs in six coastal Mississippi counties. The charity also awarded $50,000 to the North Gulfport Community Land Trust, in Miss.; $46,000 to the NAACP chapter in Jackson, Miss.; and smaller grants to humanitarian and housing groups that aided hurricane survivors, as well as groups that advocate for immigrants and farmers who are members of minority groups.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America

New York
Amount raised: $1,623,629
Amount committed: $1,623,629
Where the money went: A total of $1.2-million went to four Planned Parenthood health centers in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas to pay for the care of hurricane evacuees and to repair damages at Planned Parenthood facilities.

Salvation Army

Alexandria, Va.
Amount raised: $363,000,000
Amount committed: $270,000,000
Where the money went: To provide food, water, clothing, and other emergency care, along with job placement and training services. Also paid for housing for volunteers in Biloxi, Miss., and to help hurricane victims obtain housing.

Samaritan’s Purse

Boone, N.C.
Amount raised: $37,638,398
Amount committed: $17,358,021
Where the money went: To supply equipment and coordinate volunteer crews to help Gulf Coast residents rebuild damaged homes. More than $1.2-million went to religious organizations, including $1-million to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association Celebration of Hope Festival. Samaritan’s Purse expects to help 2,000 families rebuild their homes this year in New Orleans and in cities and towns in Mississippi. It also anticipates making grants of $20,000 each to 25 churches in those cities, and in Biloxi, Miss.

Save the Children

Westport, Conn.
Amount raised: $7,082,409
Amount committed: $3,395,346
Where the money went: To sponsor after-school programs in partnership with the YMCA and to rebuild and restock damaged child-care centers and playgrounds. The charity also helped hold 37 summer camps — in conjunction with YMCA’s, Boys & Girls Clubs, and the Girl Scouts — that have benefited more than 13,000 children. Save the Children also trains teachers and others who work directly with children to help youngsters cope with the disaster. The organization created a tented child-care center in Pass Christian, Miss., to serve evacuee families.

Scholarship America

St. Peter, Minn.
Amount raised: $5,900,000
Amount committed: $4,700,000
Where the money went: To scholarships for college students whose families were affected by the hurricanes.

Twenty-First Century Foundation

New York
Amount raised: $1,016,475
Amount committed: $766,862
Where the money went: To 44 social-services and advocacy groups, mostly in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, that received more than $740,000.

United Jewish Communities National Office

New York
Amount raised: $19,636,688
Amount committed: $17,613635
Where the money went: Grants totaling $8-million went to synagogues and social-services charities that serve New Orleans’ Jewish community. An additional grant of $1-million went to the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, which aided at least 10 local charities that serve storm evacuees. United Jewish Communities, whose funds were raised with the help of other Jewish federations nationwide, is allocating its remaining Katrina funds for long-term projects, such as mental-health services and strenghtening the infrastructure of Gulf Coast communities.

United Methodist Committee on Relief

New York
Amount raised: $65,000,000
Amount committed: $48,587,686
Where the money went: To Gulf Coast recovery programs, to be paid over a three-year period, with most of the spending split between direct assistance to hurricane victims and establishment of a case-management system to connect survivors with the services they need. The figure for funds raised includes all donations to the organization’s international hurricane-relief effort; the figure for the amount committed is minus $6.5-million also spent for hurricane relief, of which the charity could not discern how much went to Gulf Coast efforts.

United States Fund for Unicef

New York
Amount raised: $3,964,061
Amount committed: $3,865,295
Where the money went: A total of $2.7-million was given to 24 charities to provide 1,755 “school in a box” kits and 740 recreation kits to organizations and school systems in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The kits provide school supplies for children and teachers, as well as equipment for recreational activities. The charity also provided money to 17 organizations that provided education, child care, mental-health counseling, and youth-leadership activities — such as summer camps — to children and teenagers who survived the hurricane.

United Way of America

Alexandria, Va.
Amount raised: $26,724,929
Amount committed: $19,775,218
Where the money went: To Gulf Coast United Way organizations to help rebuild the region. The money was used for a range of purposes, such as housing, day care, and mental-health counseling for storm survivors. (Figure for amount raised includes funds raised by United Ways across the country, though some local organizations that served hurricane victims kept the funds they raised to pay for services in their communities and did not contribute toward the national group’s total.)

United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta
Amount raised:

$8,250,000
Amount committed: $7,950,000
Wjere the money went: To help hurricane evacuees resettle in the Atlanta area, focusing on issues such as employment, housing, emergency assistance with food and rent, child care, and establishing a communication network so that available services across the region could be accessed by the new arrivals. (Figures are estimates.)

United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area
Amount raised:

$7,760,000
Amount committed: $5,730,000
Where the money went: A total of $5.7-million was awarded to 55 charities to provide housing, counseling, hospice care for uninsured people, and other services to hurricane survivors.

United Way of South Mississippi

Gulfport, Miss.
Amount raised: $1,090,000
Amount committed: $1,237,605
Where the money went: A total of $360,000 went to 17 charities and government organizations that aid hurricane victims, such as local chapters of the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, and a Boys & Girls Club in Harrison County. (The amount committed exceeds the amount raised for hurricane relief because additional funds were granted from the charity’s annual fund.)

United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast

Houston
Amount raised: $8,000,000
Amount committed: $6,428,765
Where the money went: In addition to more than $1.2-million to Houston charities that delivered direct emergency services, such as food and housing assistance, and more than $1.5-million in grants to local groups that offered non-emergency help to evacuees, such as employment services and legal aid, the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast has committed the remainder of its Katrina funds to dealing with the long-term needs of storm survivors who have resettled in Houston, such as case management and mental-health services.

World Vision

Federal Way, Wash.
Amount raised: $11,442,600
Amount committed: $8,371,700
Where the money went: To support an estimated 100 charities that directly assisted hurricane victims, and to Gulf Coast churches for rebuilding efforts. World Vision also took over a warehouse in Mississippi to distribute emergency supplies donated for storm survivors. Money was also spent on hiring staff members to run the charity’s operations in the region, and for fund-raising and administrative costs associated with providing aid to Hurricane Katrina victims.

YMCA

Chicago
Amount raised: $2,749,000
Amount committed: $2,749,000
Where the money went: To YMCA’s in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas so they could repair hurricane damage, help their employees, and figure out how best to obtain federal emergency aid.

Information compiled by Sarah Ludwig and Heather Joslyn, with assistance from Harvy Lipman.