Fund Raising for Hurricane Katrina: an Update of Charity Efforts

America’s Second Harvest
Chicago
Amount raised: $35,000,000
Amount spent: $30,400,000
Where the money went: Most of the donations — 74 percent — were spent on the purchase and transportation of food and grocery products to the Gulf

Coast. About 23 percent of the money went to grants to member food banks and related organizations to rebuild and support local relief and recovery efforts. (The remaining 3 percent was spent on immediate relief needs, such as volunteer housing.) America’s Second Harvest also received $76.7-million in donated food and grocery products, which were distributed to Gulf Coast food banks. (Second Harvest is no longer actively raising money for post-Katrina recovery.)

American National Red Cross
Washington
Amount raised: $2,176,000,000
Amount spent: $2,140,000,000
Where the money went: To provide food, shelter, clothing, counseling, and emergency financial assistance to hurricane survivors. About $1.5-billion has been spent on emergency financial assistance for storm survivors, while $229-million went for emergency food and shelter. Some $84-million went for other support services for hurricane victims, such as maintaining toll-free information lines. About $33-million has been committed thus far on the Red Cross’s Hurricane Recovery Program, which has awarded more than $18-million to nonprofit organizations in the Gulf Coast or in cities like Houston and Atlanta, which house many storm victims. About $78-million has been spent by the Red Cross on management and fund-raising costs. A $3-million grant went to the United Way Hurricane Response and Recovery Fund. The Red Cross also received $194-million in food, water, clothing, hotel accommodations, and other noncash gifts, which aided Gulf Coast relief operations. (The Red Cross stopped raising money for post-Katrina recovery in February 2006, but continues to aid other charities who serve storm survivors.)

Americans for the Arts
Washington
Amount raised: $116,815
Amount spent: $116,815
Where the money went: To local arts groups in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath; Recipients included the Southern Arts Federation, in Atlanta, which also distributed donations to Gulf Coast arts organizations. Americans for the Arts maintains a permanent Emergency Relief Fund and says it is distributing donations as they are received.

AmeriCares Foundation
Stamford, Conn.
Amount raised: $13,500,000
Amount spent: $13,000,000
Where the money went: About $11.3-million went to 175 projects, mostly focused on health and social services. Biggest beneficiaries included the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, in La., which received two grants totaling $488,000,and the Coastal Family Health Center, in Biloxi, Miss., which received three grants totaling $435,000. The remainder was spent on the delivery of about $10-million medicines, emergency supplies, and other noncash donations–to hospitals, clinics, medical centers, social-service organizations and shelters throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama. (Americares stopped actively raising money for Katrina recovery at the end of 2005)

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
New York
Amount raised: $6,287,750
Amount spent: $5,299,306
Where the money went: To pay for clean up of debris and gutting of houses in low-income Gulf Coast neighborhoods affected by Hurricane Katrina. The funds raised also paid to relocate the group’s national headquarters’ operations from New Orleans to Houston and Baton Rouge, and later to rebuild its damaged New Orleans headquarters. Acorn’s funds also paid for planning on rebuilding New Orleans, and on community organizing and public education to give Katrina survivors a voice in rebuilding their neighborhoods.

Baton Rouge Area Foundation
Baton Rouge, La.
Amount raised: $44,000,000
Amount spent: $34,000,000
Where the money went: More than $34-million has been disbursed through at least 3,700 grants. The remainder is still being directed to meet donors’ instructions. More than $4-million went to the Greater New Orleans Foundation via the Hurricane Katrina New Orleans Recovery Fund, to help rebuild local infrastructure necessary to provide basic services to returning residents. Another $8.5-million in grants was distributed, via the Hurricane Katrina Displaced Residents Fund to organizations supporting people displaced by the storms. More than $9-million was disbursed through Employer Assistance Funds, which several companies began in order to give aid to their employees affected by the storm. Higher Ground Relief Fund issued more than $3-million to 214 musicians and music-related organizations working to return music to New Orleans. In addition, the foundation created InCourage — a mental-health effort designed with guidance from the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and New York’s Project Liberty following 9/11. (The Baton Rouge Area Foundation stopped raising money for Katrina recovery in August 2006.)

Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Atlanta
Amount raised: $3,659,416
Amount spent: $3,843,790
Where the money went: To help Boys & Girls Clubs chapters reach out to families displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and to assist organizations damaged by the storms to rebuild infrastructure and provide services. (The charity paid out more money than it collected for post-Katrina recovery, making up the difference via other internal sources of revenue.)

Brother’s Brother Foundation
Pittsburgh
Amount raised: $888,199
Amount spent: $888,199
Where the money went: To distribute more than $7-million in noncash donations to storm victims. $274,375 was given to Food for the Poor, in Coconut Creek, Fla., to cover shipping costs for the donated goods. The charity is no longer raising money for post-Katrina recovery efforts.

Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund
Philadelphia
Amount raised: $130,600,000
Amount spent: $130,600,000
Where the money went: A total of $40-million has gone to recovery funds set up by the governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to fill unmet needs in their states. Grants totaling about $35.8-million were given to community projects focused on health, housing, and community and management needs. An additional $30-million went to 33 institutions of higher education. In total, $25-million was disbursed to 1,151 houses of worship. Of the total amount committed, $23.3-million remains to be sent to beneficiaries this fall. (The Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund stopped accepting donations in July 2007.)

Campus Crusade for Christ International
Orlando, Fla.
Amount raised: $2,669,549
Amount spent: $2,669,549
Where the money went: For provisions such as bottled water and food for clean-up crew volunteers and Gulf Coast residents. The charity also paid for a long-term project in which thousands of student volunteers cleaned schools in Mississippi and Louisiana and helped with home reconstruction. Some donations were also spent on providing spiritual encouragement to storm survivors, and on the needs of the charity’s staff members who were personally affected by he hurricane.

Capital Area United Way
Baton Rouge, La.
Amount raised: $3,058,959
Amount spent: $2,496,665
Where the money went: A total of $1.4-million went to local nonprofit organizations that provide direct social-services to storm victims, with an additional $118,596 going to religious organizations that provided shelter and support services to evacuees. $390,000 went to create a Long-Term Recovery Committee and finance its operations, which include providing case management to help evacuees start new lives. The charity estimates that its involvement in recovery efforts will last at least another five years.

Catholic Charities USA
Alexandria, Va.
Amount raised: $149,331,099
Amount spent: $146,317,785
Where the money went: To support the emergency and long-term recovery efforts of more than 100 local Catholic Charities and other Catholic institutions. Services have included: emergency assistance, crisis counseling, case management, transportation, temporary housing and employment services, as well as assistance in applying for government aid. Among other things, organizations opened shelters, established temporary housing, paid rental deposits and rents for evacuees, organized “Adopt-a-Family” programs, held furniture drives, and raised money. Catholic Charities is helping to gut and rebuild storm-damaged homes in the Gulf Coast region. The organization, which stopped actively raising funds for recovery efforts in 2005, expects to continue helping Katrina evacuees move toward self-sufficiency for years to come.

Chicago Foundation for Women
Amount raised: $94,000
Amount spent: $94,000
Where the money went: To three organizations, in grants of $25,000 each, that worked directly with storm evacuees who relocated to Illinois: the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights, The Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries, and the People’s Action Coalition, all in Chicago. The remainder of the donations were used for efforts to educate the public about two programs focusing on women in poverty.

Christian Disaster Response
Winter Haven, Fla.
Amount raised: $738,647
Amount spent: $738,647
Where the money went: On direct assistance to storm survivors, particularly food and food service, but also “recovery kits” of toiletries and Bibles given to hurricane evacuees. The charity also spent funds to support its volunteers, and for materials to repair and renovate buildings.

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Amount raised: $5,313,380
Amount spent: $4,100,000
Where the money went: A total of $2.5-million has been spent to construct homes for Katrina survivors, with half of that amount going to organizations in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The organization spent $800,000 to help Gulf Coast nonprofit organizations continue operating and expand their capacity to serve the needy. The charity also spent $360,000 on community-development programs, and $266,000 to help resettle storm evacuees from New Orleans.

Church World Service
Elkhart, Ind.
Amount raised: $5,500,000
Amount spent: $3,217,000
Where the money went: To help local organizations coordinate volunteers and construction workers for home rebuilding and to aid recovery operations in neighborhoods dominated by needy people and members of minority groups. The charity also sponsored workshops to support clergy members and caregivers. It also provided training, materials, and other aid to workers and Gulf Coast residents exposed to environmental contamination. It replaced supplies at 13 damaged schools, and gave support to 10 mentor programs for troubled teenagers.

City Team Ministries
San Jose, Calif.
Amount raised: $1,773,429
Amount spent: $1,773,429
Where the money went: To set up and run two shelters for storm victims in Baton Rouge, La., and in Mississippi’s Hancock County, which provided case management to evacuees for six months following the disaster. Distribution centers in these areas also provided food, water, clothing, and medical and hygiene products to storm victims. City Team Ministries also helped found the Hancock County Long Term Recovery Committee, which collaborates with other groups to provide detailed case management and rebuilding and repair of homes destroyed in the hurricane. The charity has helped rebuild more than 150 homes thus far, and is committed to at least one more year of aiding recovery efforts.

Direct Relief International
Santa Barbara, Calif.
Amount raised: $5,125,781
Amount spent: $4,872,167
Where the money went: To provide emergency operating costs for hospitals and clinics, and to finance health services, medical equipment, mental-health programs and other efforts to help storm victims deal with stress. The organization has also paid for the repair and rehabilitation of medical clinics.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Foundation
Chicago
Amount raised: $27,000,000
Amount spent: $24,000,000
Where the money went: To support 21 affiliated organizations that provide social-services assistance to hurricane survivors. Services included emergency aid, spiritual and emotional care, coordination of volunteers, and long-term assistance to help individual storm survivors rebuild their lives.

Foundation for the Mid South
Jackson, Miss.
Amount raised: $18,000,000
Amount spent: $13,200,000
Where the money went: Approximately $9.1-million went to more than 200 churches, social-services organizations, and other nonprofit groups, and $4.1-million was awarded to individuals through donor-advised funds. The giving to charities focused on helping them handle their operating costs, with priority given to organizations working in the areas of health, housing, education, families and children, and economic development.

Goodwill Industries International
Rockville, Md.
Amount raised: $2,109,734
Amount spent: $2,109,734
Where the money went: To assist Goodwills in the Gulf Coast in replacing or repairing damaged infrastructure and to help those organizations’ staff members and client families. The remainder of grants will be forwarded to the New Orleans’ Goodwill to repair its damaged headquarters. (The national charity is no longer raising money for this effort.)

Greater Houston Community Foundation
Amount raised: $72,982,899
Amount spent: $71,950,160
Where the money went: More than $60-million to the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund, to be distributed by the national group. Grants were also made to nonprofit organizations working in Houston and around the Gulf Coast region, including nearly $1.4-million to Habitat for Humanity International, in Americus, Ga.,, and a total of $1.4-million to MusiCares and the Grammy Foundation, both in Santa Monica, Calif. The community foundation also gave $1-million to the Children’s Health Fund, in New York. An additional $500,000 went to the Houston Katrina/Rita Fund. The Greater Houston Community Foundation stopped raising money for post-Katrina relief in 2006, and says charities have been identified to receive the rest of the funds it has raised for the effort.

Greater New Orleans Foundation
Amount raised: $45,000,000
Amount spent: $29,300,000
Where the money went: To help finance a five-year effort designed to rebuild the city by improving the availability of education, employment, and housing. Key grants so far include $1-million in support of the city’s recovery plan; $1-million for Greater New Orleans Foundation affiliates in devastated neighboring parishes; and $500,000 for New Schools for New Orleans.

Habitat for Humanity International
Americus, Ga.
Amount raised: $110,048,629
Amount spent: $101,282,222
Where the money went: More than $87.1-milion went to Habitat for Humanity affiliates to construct homes and purchase land to build them on. A total of 1,100 houses have been built or are under construction for storm victims, with the help of 50,000 volunteers. More than $11.5-million was spent on general and administrative costs, with just under $1.2-million spent on fund-raising costs. A handful of other groups also received funds, with Church World Service, in Elkhart, Ind., getting the largest grant at $2.6-million; the two organizations are working together to repair 600 homes.

Humane Society of the United States
Washington
Amount raised: $34,600,000
Amount spent: $23,600,000
Where the money went: A total of $8.4-million went to reconstruct 45 animal-welfare facilities in the Gulf Coast region, and $2.3-million in reimbursement grants went to 130 organizations in 29 states that participated in the disaster response and recovery operations following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Additionally, $11-million has been committed to support operations in the hurricane-ravaged region, efforts to rebuild shelters in Louisiana and Mississippi, programs designed to improve companion-animal care in the region, enhancement of the Humane Society’s capacity to respond to future disasters, and related activities. (Figures are as of February 28, the latest the organization has available.)

Islamic Relief
Burbank, Calif.
Amount raised: $682,409
Amount spent: $682,409
Where the money went: To the United Way Hurricane Response and Recovery Fund, which received a grant of $150,000. Islamic Aid also spent $46,000 to purchase and install a mobile home that was converted into a medical clinic in Biloxi, Miss., and gave grants totaling $50,000 to nine groups in Biloxi, Dallas, Houston, and Jackson, Miss., that performed relief and recovery work. Recipients included the Gulf Coast Women’s Center, in Biloxi, and Interfaith Ministries, in Houston. In addition, Islamic Relief collected nearly $2.6-million in food, medicine, furniture, and other noncash donations to storm survivors, an effort it says continues in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Jewish Federation/Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago
Amount raised: $2,334,007
Amount spent: $2,174,007
Where the money went: More than $1.2-million went to United Jewish Communities, to be allocated for local needs in the Gulf Coast. A total of $689,562 went to five organizations affiiliated with the federation that served Katrina evacuees who had fled to Chicago. An additional $5,000 went to the Jewish Federation of New Orleans. (The federation is no longer actively raising money, but says any remaining contributions will be transferred to United Jewish Communities to allocate to Gulf Coast groups.)

Lincoln Park Zoological Society
Chicago
Amount raised: $977,353
Amount spent: $977,353
Where the money went: To the Audubon Nature Institute, in New Orleans, which operates nine museums and parks in the city, including its zoo. Funds were used to aid the staff and provide animal supplies and food during the difficult days and weeks following the storm. (Lincoln Park spearheaded a national fund-raising campaign at the behest of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The campaign ceased in November 2005.)

Mennonite Disaster Service
Akron, Pa.
Amount raised: $6,000,000
Amount spent: $3,150,000
Where the money went: To support volunteer housing, food and transportation at recovery projects, materials for homeowners, insurance, and stipends for long-term volunteers. Mennonite Disaster Service also supported a small-loan project for hurricane victims to start businesses. In the last year, the charity purchased property in New Orleans to house volunteers and run its local operations; it expects to be involved in recovery efforts for at least another two years.

Mercy Corps
Portland, Ore.
Amount raised: $10,745,995
Amount spent: $8,708,256
Where the money went: To provide immediate relief supplies, such as blankets, food, and water. Other donations supported a “Comfort for Kids” program that gives mental health aid to traumatized children and youth via schools, day-care centers, and other child-welfare organizations; economic recovery programs that focused on small businesses, including grants and training to help reestablish livelihoods; and a “deconstruction” program, in which damaged homes are dismantled in the reverse of how it was built in order to salvage building materials for reuse. The charity also supported neighborhood organizations to promote civic participation. (Mercy Corps intends to stop soliciting funds for Katrina recovery efforts at the end of 2007.)

National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States
Washington
Amount raised: $1,651,256
Amount spent: $1,511,085
Where the money went: For work in both New Orleans and Mississippi, to finance the costs of staff members and volunteers who helped low- and moderate-income residents in historic districts to secure, stabilize, repair, and rehabilitate their homes. The organization also runs a New Orleans Main Street program, with the goal of revitalizing four of the city’s historic commercial districts. The organization’s Home Again! New Orleans grant program is providing guidance and money to owners of historic homes who have been affected by the storm. The charity’s legal and policy staff members are also undertaking advocacy efforts to prevent what it calls “unwarranted demolition” of damaged historic structures.

Operation Blessing International
Virginia Beach
Amount raised: $21,084,170
Amount spent: $17,941,982
Where the money went: More than $4.7-million in cash grants went to at least 200 churches and nonprofit organizations across several states that provided hurricane relief and recovery. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, the charity served meals to survivors and volunteers, and delivered food and water to the Salvation Army’s mobile kitchens. Today, Operation Blessing operates a command center in Slidell, La., to help coordinate recovery efforts and houses volunteers. In 2006, the charity also created a free medical and dental clinic in East New Orleans. The charity also bought a fleet of buses, which it donated to the St. Bernard Parish Recovery Board, to help ferry volunteers to project sites. Operation Blessing also reports that it donated $23-million in donated medicine to Louisiana State University Medical Center. (The charity stopped raising money for recovery efforts in January and says it is committed to its post-Katrina work until the end of this year.)

Operation USA
Los Angeles
Amount raised: $2,375,000
Amount spent: $1,501,000
Where the money went: To support community health clinics,primarily in Louisiana and Mississippi by financing capital improvements (such as buying emergency generators), paying the salaries of clinical staff members as well as the costs of increased delivery of services. The charity expects to commit another $600,000 to these efforts by the end of this year. It is also supporting social service programs, providing mentors to needy adolescent girls affected by the storm and mental-health services for both health-care workers and their clients.

Oxfam America
Boston
Amount raised: $6,110,000
Amount spent: $3,137,512
Where the money went: To help charities in Louisiana and Mississippi distribute relief goods such as food and medicine, with special attention paid to remote rural areas that were affected by the storm. Oxfam also established a relief-coordination center in Biloxi, Miss., and supported a local organizer who works to respond to the concerns of the state’s immigrant laborers. The charity is now focused on long-term efforts to support local groups that serve poor, minority, and immigrant residents of the Gulf Coast.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America
New York
Amount raised: $1,623,629
Amount spent: $1,623,629
Where the money went: Nearly $1.3-million was awarded to Planned Parenthood affiliates in regions that were directly affected by Hurricane Katrina or those that took in evacuees following the storm. The money was used to provide services or repair damaged clinics. The national charity also created and distributed a radio ad educating hurricane survivors about Planned Parenthood health care services and locations. (The organization stopped raising money for post-Katrina recovery efforts in fiscal year 2006. Figures are for fiscal year 2006.)

Salvation Army
Alexandria, Va.
Amount raised: $392,000,000
Amount spent: $357,000,000
Where the money went: To offer relief aid in the aftermath of the storm to 1.7 million survivors, and to provide long-term recovery services, such as helping people get social services and awarding cash to people who faced storm losses. Through May 31, the charity says it has helped 1.4 million people navigate the social-service system. The charity’s Alabama-Louisiana-Mississippi Division managed “volunteer villages” in Biloxi, Miss., and in New Orleans; supported small local organizations that needed help carrying out recovery efforts; aided in rebuilding homes, and offered job training to workers displaced by the storm. In addition to the cash it has received from donors, the Salvation Army estimates it has received $240-million in donated products.

Samaritan’s Purse
Boone, N.C.
Amount raised: $38,731,363
Amount spent: $32,533,154
Where the money went: To churches to purchase mobile homes for displaced storm survivors. Additional donations went for construction supplies, and equipment required to move and clear debris. The money also supported accommodations for volunteers, staff members, and evangelistic efforts. This year, the charity intends to focus on rebuilding homes for needy residents of Kiln, Miss.

Save the Children
Westport, Conn.
Amount raised: $8,217,612
Amount spent: $6,689,019
Where the money went: To provide $3.1-million in grants to organizations that operate after-school, summer, and recreation programs for children, such as the Boys & Girls Clubs. Save the Children also helped repair and resupply 37 child-care centers in Mississippi, and supported a variety of such programs itself, including one to help residents in temporary housing take safety precautions. In cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, it is working in 10 temporary housing sites to create community centers and events aimed at bringing residents closer, and to create safer environments for children. In January, it began a new effort to improve the literacy skills of children in the Gulf Coast area, along with after-school programs aimed at encouraging exercise and better nutrition, and an early-childhood-development effort that focuses on new parents.

Scholarship America
St. Peter, Minn.
Amount raised: $6,500,000
Amount spent: $5,100,000
Where the money went: For grants to colleges and universities so they can provide scholarships to students who were affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Some money was also used for direct financial aid to such students.

Southern Arts Federation
Atlanta
Amount raised: $200,000
Amount spent: $200,000
Where the money went: To state arts councils in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, with 85 percent of the funds going to groups in the latter two states. The organizations used the money to make small grants to individual artists and arts groups affected by the storm. The Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, in Palm Beach, Fla., this year donated $4,000 that will be used to start a new plan to help arts groups respond to future emergencies, which the Southern Arts Federation is planning to help coordinate. (The federation stopped raising money for Katrina recovery in June 2006.)

Southern Mutual Help Association
New Iberia, La.
Amount raised: $7,275,002
Amount spent: $3,868,917
Where the money went: About 72 percent of the money has been spent on recovery efforts for homes (more than 600 so far) and businesses (20) in 11 coastal parishes of Louisiana, with the remainder allocated toward program costs, such as staff and contractor pay, and delivery of services. An additional $500,000 has been committed as grants to homeowners and business owners, but has not yet disbursed. The charity is still raising money and expects that it will be working on recovery efforts until 2009 and on helping economically redevelop damaged rural towns until 2014. (The charity’s figures reflect money raised and spent to aid survivors of both Hurricane Katrina and Rita.)

Southern Partners Fund
Atlanta
Amount raised: $440,345
Amount spent: $373,973
Where the money went: To several small nonprofit groups in areas affected by the storm to aid in hurricane relief efforts, such as Community Culture and Resource Center, in Lexington, Miss.; the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, in Baton Rouge, La.; and the Louisiana Environmental Justice Community Organization Coalition, in Atlanta.

Travelers Aid International
Washington
Amount raised: $5,749,286
Amount spent: $5,749,286
Where the money went: Heartland Alliance, a group affiliated with Traveler’s Aid, awarded grants totaling $511,000 to the Jewish Federation/Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago;
$402,000 to Metropolitan Family Services, in Chicago; $235,000 to Catholic Charities; and $58,000 to the Salvation Army. The remainder went for emergency services (such as food, clothing, shelter, gasoline cards, medicine), counseling, temporary housing, and transportation to reunite families or move evacuees to other cities. (Figures are from nine of the 18 Traveler’s Aid affiliates who were involved in Katrina relief efforts. The charity has ceased raising money for the project.)

Twenty-First Century Foundation
New York
Amount raised: $2,362,473
Amount spent: $1,506,800
Where the money went: To advocacy, organizing, leadership development, and social-services projects, via grants to more than 140 organizations. Grantees include the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now ($30,500); Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children ($27,500); and the African-American Leadership Project ($30,000), all in New Orleans.

United Jewish Communities National Office
New York
Amount raised: $29,000,000
Amount spent: $20,181,335
Where the money went: Nearly $13.6-million went to the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans; $3.5-million in emergency aid to evacuees in the first two months after the storm; $1.5-million to the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston; $800,000 to provide mental-health services in Southern Louisiana and Mississippi; $525,000 to the Jewish Federation of Greater Baton Rouge, in La.; $350,000 to the San Antonio Food Bank; and $250,000 to the Dallas Mayor’s Housing Initiative to help Katrina evacuees resettle. Key projects included a two-year plan to stabilize Jewish synagogues, schools, and charities in the region that were affected by the storm. (United Jewish Communities, which raised funds with the help of other Jewish federations nationwide, has stopped actively raising money for post-Katrina recovery. The figure for cash committed, which is as of February 2007, the most recent available, does not reflect all giving for hurricane response by groups in the Jewish federation system.)

United Methodist Committee on Relief
New York
Amount raised: $66,450,000
Amount spent: $59,461,133
Where the money went: To establish a case-management system to connect survivors with the services they need. (The total raised is for the charity’s work for all hurricanes during the time period, including storms in both the United States and Central America.) The charity is paying out grants over a three-year period for the system, which will directly aid up to 50,000 beneficiaries in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Florida, and North Carolina.
The largest grant, $4.8-million, went to Grace Ministries of Houston. Other grants supported rebuilding operations, housing for volunteers, and maintenance of regional supply depots, among other projects. The charity has no current plans to stop accepting contributions for post-Katrina recovery efforts but hopes to wrap up in 2009.

United States Fund for Unicef
New York
Amount raised: $4,062,962
Amount spent: $4,062,962
Where the money went: A total of nearly $3-million was spent to provide grants to 17 organizations that provide direct relief services to children and youth, with a focus on education, recreation, and mental-health programs; recipients included the Bilxoi and Meridian, Miss., public school districts, the Children’s Defense Fund; Covenant House, in New Orleans; Mercy Corps, and Special Olympics. Unicef also spent $957,771 on “school-in-a-box” and recreation kits, which were distributed to organizations and school systems in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, as well as Texas, where many surviving families sought refuge. (The United States Fund for Unicef stopped raising money for Katrina recovery at the end of 2005.)

United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area
Amount raised: $40,100,000
Amount spent: $40,100,000
Where the money went: More than 100 organizations have received grants for a wide range of projects, including $75,000 for a volunteer clearinghouse, and roughly $1-million for mental-health and family counselors to help people cope with their recovery from the storm. Roughly $100,000 went to Habitat for Humanity projects. (The United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area–citing housing, mental-health care, and crime prevention as continuing local priorities–is still raising money for recovery efforts, with a goal of bringing in more than $20-million annually.)

United Way of America
Alexandria, Va.
Amount raised: $83,600,000
Amount spent: $29,080,095
Where the money went: To Gulf Coast United Way organizations to help rebuild the region. Projects covered a range of missions, including housing, day care, and mental-health counseling for storm survivors. (Figure for cash raised includes money raised by United Ways across the country for hurricane-response efforts — some of which was kept and spent by local United Ways — in addition to the $30-million that was raised specifically for the United Way Hurricane Response and Recovery Fund. The figure for cash committed covers only the amount dispersed from the Response and Recovery Fund.)

United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta
Amount raised: $9,290,000
Amount spent: $9,290,000
Where the money went: To 60 local charities, for case-management programs and other services for evacuee families in the Atlanta area, such as employment, housing, emergency assistance with food and rent, child care, and a communications network. Money donated by the Red Cross is being used for children’s camps this summer and to provide mental-health care and other needs of local Katrina evacuees. (The United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta stopped raising money for Katrina recovery efforts in February 2006.)

United Way of South Mississippi
Gulfport
Amount raised: $3,636,752
Amount spent: $4,580,220
Where the money went: To relief and recovery efforts in the three Mississippi counties served by the charity, with a special emphasis on coastal Hancock County. Grants totaling $421,408 went to Boys & Girls Clubs in the area, and $132,750 went to the American Red Cross. Other major recipients include: Hancock Human Resource Agency ($160,342) to expand an after-school program, and Habitat for Humanity’s Jackson, Miss., affiliate ($135,000). Officials at the United Way of South Mississippi say they will continue to focus on low-cost housing, mental-health care, and child care in its recovery efforts. (The figure for cash raised does not include money the group raised from routine annual campaigns, some of which was used for Katrina-recovery grants.)

United Way of Greater Houston
Amount raised: $9,700,000
Amount spent: $8,300,000
Where the money went: The largest chunk — $5.6-million — went for long-term recovery grants for case management, behavioral health programs, employment services, and children’s services. By early December 2005, an additional $2.7-million was spent in emergency and intermediate grants to local charities serving storm evacuees. The rest of the money will aid the work of the Joint Hurricane Community Settlement Task Force, which coordinates services to evacuees including: housing for the elderly and people with disabilities, job training and placement, and fulfilling other unmet needs. The group, anticipating increased needs when federal housing subsidies for displaced storm survivors start being reduced next March, is also seeking a successor organization to help evacuees find the services they need. (The United Way of Greater Houston was formerly called the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast; the organization changed its name in April 2007.)

United Way of the Mid-South
Memphis
Amount raised: $433,042
Amount spent: $385,055
Where the money went: A total of $354,843 went to 12 local organizations involved in relief and recovery efforts to aid Hurricane Katrina evacuees who wound up in Memphis; more than $176,000 of that amount went to United Methodist Neighborhood Centers. The organization also bought school supplies and uniforms for children from evacuee families who were newly enrolled in Memphis’ schools, and used part of a grant from the United Way of America to help bolster the city’s social-service and emergency referral hotline.

World Vision
Federal Way, Wash.
Amount raised: $11,999,965
Amount spent: $10,063,909
Where the money went: To charities that directly assisted hurricane victims, and to Gulf Coast churches for rebuilding efforts. World Vision also obtained a warehouse in Mississippi to distribute emergency aid supplies donated for storm survivors, which it expects to run for at least one more year. 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 Hurricane Katrina.

YMCA
Chicago
Amount raised: $2,873,000
Amount spent: $2,873,000
Where the money went: To support Gulf Coast YMCAs and their individual staff members. Grants to YMCAs varied from $20,000 to $150,000. (The organization stopped raising funds for this effort in January 2006.)