Outpouring of aid flowing into local relief agencies
By Tim Christie
The Register-Guard
It took Brent Hample, executive director of the Eugene-based aid group India Partners, about a day to realize he may have set the bar a little low when he announced a $10,000 fund-raising goal to help victims of the tsunami that has devastated south Asia.
India Partners quickly raised $7,000, so on Thursday Hample threw out his first goal and set a new one: to raise $100,000.
"It's been amazing," he said of contributions coming in by phone, e-mail and U.S. mail. "Our phone is ringing off the hook."
The experience of the tiny, little-known India Partners is indicative of a larger outpouring of aid from the pockets of Americans. As of noon Thursday, the American Red Cross had raised $29.2 million for its international response fund in five days, including $11 million in the previous 24 hours, spokeswoman Sarah Marchetti said.
That exceeds the $19 million received over a 10-day period last August in response to Hurricane Charley in Florida - certainly a disaster of much smaller magnitude. All told, the Red Cross raised $79 million over a two-month period last summer and fall for victims of the series of hurricanes that buffeted the Sunshine State.
But the initial outpouring for tsunami victims doesn't match the funds raised by the Red Cross in the week after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks: $92 million.
Mercy Corps, a Portland-based relief group, has raised $3.4 million since Sunday and has set a goal of $10 million, spokesman Eric Block said. Donors have smashed previous one-day records five times this week, he said.
For instance, the previous one-day record was $96,000, raised a year ago in response to an earthquake in Iran. On Wednesday, Mercy Corps raised close to $1 million, he said.
Aid organizations say cash is the best way to help those in need - keep the blankets, canned goods and teddy bears at home.
"The best thing that people can do is make a financial contribution," said Brian Leeper, chief operating officer of the Red Cross' Oregon Pacific chapter. "We're not looking for volunteers and we're not accepting donations of goods or services."
That's because donated goods need to be sorted, packaged and shipped, and then unpacked, sorted and transported when they arrive at their destination.
"Quite frankly the cost of transporting those supplies is often times more than what the supplies are worth," Leeper said.
The other advantage of financial donations is that U.S. dollars go a long way. For instance, a $30 gift can provide food for 30 days for one tsunami survivor, Block said. For $11, emergency cooking supplies and bedding can be purchased for an entire displaced family.
Financial contributions also allow aid organizations to purchase exactly what disaster victims need most urgently, and to pay for the transportation needed to distribute supplies, according to the Center for International Disaster Information.
At India Partners, the donations have kept the small cadre of staff and volunteers busy answering phones, reading e-mails and processing checks in the group's 800-square-foot office on the edge of downtown Eugene, Hample said.
Among the donations was $60 in cash raised by two fourth-grade boys who canvassed their neighborhood, he said.
At www.indiapartners.org, traffic has increased steadily in recent days. The site, which averages about 11 hits a day, got 54 visitors Monday, 76 on Tuesday and 84 on Wednesday.
"I've never experienced anything like this before - both the huge need over in Asia and the huge response from people wanting to help," Hample said.
HOW TO HELP
Aid organizations say financial gifts are the best way to help victims of the tsunami. To donate:
- To the American Red Cross, go to www.red cross.org; stop by any Oregon Community Credit Union; go to amazon.com; call (800) HELPNOW (800-435-7669); or send a check to: American Red Cross, 862 Bethel Drive, Eugene, OR 97402; mark check for "international respond fund"
- To India Partners, call 683-0696 or (888) 870-9085, or write: India Partners, Tsunami Relief, P.O. Box 5470, Eugene, OR 97405
- To Mercy Corps, go to www.mercycorps.org
- To the International Committees of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, go to www.icrc.org
