Organizations With Ties to South Asia Pitch In With Fund-Raising Drives

Schools, religious congregations, community groups, and many other organizations across the United States are

raising money and collecting supplies to help the victims of the South Asia tsunamis.

Last week Leo Michael and two members of his church flew to India to deliver the $43,000 St. Gabriel’s United Episcopal Church, in Springdale, Ark., had raised from its 90 members and other people in and around his town. Mr. Michael, the church’s rector, was born in India and worked for years in two of the devastated areas. He will use his local connections there to purchase food and clothing, and to hire builders to construct small concrete homes for some of the victims. “We are all placed in this world to help our brothers and sisters in need,” he says. “This is the time to put our faith in action.”

In Louisville, the Hindu Temple of Kentucky has raised $21,000 so far to help victims. The money has come from some of the congregation’s 1,000 members as well as people who read a local newspaper report about the temple’s fund-raising efforts, says Janardhanan Alse, the group’s managing director. Each of the nine members of the temple’s executive committee suggested three national or international groups with “credibility, longevity, and low administrative costs” to receive the temple’s donation, says Mr. Alse. The committee then picked several of the groups to recommend to board members, who will make the final decision later this month. The temple plans to stop soliciting donations at the end of January.

The temple has experience raising money for disasters. In 2001, the group helped victims of an earthquake in Gujarat, India, by contributing $42,000 to a local religious group there that also provides social services.

The New York Buddhist Vihara Foundation, in Queens, has collected $120,000 and also shipped four containers to Sri Lanka, says K. Piyatissa, the group’s chief monk. The 45-foot containers are stocked with nonperishable food, medicine, tools, medical supplies, and clothing. Two monks from the foundation traveled to Sri Lanka to ensure the donations are distributed wisely.

Student Efforts

Other charities with ties to the affected countries have solicited support from their members. Indian Muslim Relief and Charities, in Palo Alto, Calif., has already sent $60,000 to a group it has long collaborated with, Sahayata Trust, in Anbhra Pradesh, India, to help with relief efforts. The group first sent an e-mail appeal to its 10,000 members around the country on December 28, and has been following up with e-mails on the progress of the relief effort, says Manzoor Ghouri, the group’s president. “Immediately the need was for food and clothing,” says Mr. Ghouri. “Now they are going into the second phase. They want help for rehabilitation: rebuilding homes and their livelihood.” The group has raised $200,000 — nearly half of it online — and hopes to raise $1-million.

While he is pleased with the response to his group’s fund raising, Mr. Ghouri says some Muslims might be sending their donations to organizations like the American Red Cross, instead of to Muslim groups, out of fear of federal investigations into some Muslim and Islamic charities suspected of supporting terrorist groups overseas. The federal scrutiny of some of these religious groups, which was stepped up after the September 11, 2001, attacks, and the plummeting local economy have contributed to a 30-percent decline in donations to the charity in the last two years, he says.

Schools and their students are also raising money to help victims. At Convent of the Visitation School, in Mendota Heights, Minn., students raised $9,250 by paying at least a dollar to come to school out of uniform one Friday this month, says Kathleen Daniewicz, the director of campus ministry. One second-grade student turned in a plastic bag of change and dollar bills worth $90, his personal savings. The money will be split among Catholic Relief Services, AmeriCares, and a new fund set up by the father of a recent alumnus. The family had been vacationing in Phuket, Thailand, when the tsunamis hit, and the fund will benefit residents there.

Other young people have been holding bake sales, car washes, and other fund-raising events and sending the proceeds to the Do Something: Kids Tsunami Relief Fund, in New York, says Nancy Lublin, the group’s chief executive officer. More than $100,000 has been raised, with a goal of $1,000,001. The group picked the unusual amount, Ms. Lublin says, because “in India, typically you tack on a dollar for good luck.”

The money will be given to three national and international charities that will build three schools and a medical clinic as well as assist children who were orphaned after the tsunamis.

For every $200,000 raised, General Motors Corporation will donate a truck to one of the five projects. Do Something, a nonprofit service group, plans to publish pictures of the projects’ progress and tell stories of how they are helping local residents on its Web site for the next year.

“For these kids, it is probably their first interaction with philanthropy,” says Ms. Lublin. “We want them to see where their money and energy went.”