NYT: Relief Groups Hail Level of Donations by Individuals

[DeepModem Mom]

Relief Groups Hail Level of Donations by Individuals
By STEPHANIE STROM

Published: January 1, 2005


The huge response from individual donors who want to help victims of the tsunami in Southeast Asia, spurred in part by a year-end spirit of gift-giving, has stunned officials at the world's largest private relief agencies.

Many relief agency officials, accustomed to begging for donations after a disaster has hit, called the response "unprecedented." They said that while no one has tallied all private giving, the numbers reported by individual organizations indicate that the amount will far surpass contributions for previous disasters.

Even efforts by companies to coordinate private giving has exceeded expectations. "Wow," said Craig Berman, spokesman for Amazon.com, when he was told that donations to the Red Cross through the company's Web site had topped $8 million by Friday morning. (By evening, they exceeded $9 million.)

In five days, Oxfam raised $28 million around the world, $7.5 million each from the United States and Britain and $5 million from Australia. "We are looking at the type of giving and interest in volunteering and giving in kind that is equal to and may end up eclipsing the response we saw to the super-famine in Ethiopia in 1984, where the numbers of dead were well over one million," said Nathaniel Raymond, communications adviser for humanitarian response at Oxfam America.

Mike Kiernan, a spokesman for Save the Children USA, said that in the month following a disaster, the organization was normally lucky to receive several hundred thousand dollars. It garnered $6 million in four days after the tsunami disaster. "Comparisons are hard to make, but 10 years ago, when there was the great flight from Rwanda, there was an enormous outpouring of support," Mr. Kiernan said. "But even that doesn't come close to what we're seeing now."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/01/international/worldspecial4/01charity.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1104598587-+4ItsxEAAb77RT7kkJ1XUg

[Renew Deal]

1. This is good news.

This is what the internet is supposed to do. My girlfriend and I are each in for $100. I wonder what the final tally will be. Hopefully at least about $1 billion in private funds. That and $1 billion in money from nations should be more than what they requested.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. And good news is rare, Bleachers! All DUers, please give...

if you can, and haven't already.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. The freepers will say

that *'s economic policies have allowed our citizens to have more money and thus they can donate at record levels.