Residents have raised more than $8,000 for the Red Cross and more is expected
Hollister – A week and a half after a lethal tsunami swept through Southeast Asia killing more than 150,000 people, Hollister residents and businesses are contributing to the worldwide relief effort in their own ways – from donating a portion of their sales to writing personal checks to the Red Cross.
The San Benito office of the American Red Cross already has raised more than $8,000, all of which will go to the International Response Fund, and is expecting more after businesses and schools turn over their proceeds.
Hollister residents still remember their own experience in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the 1997 floods that was wreaked havoc on the county and are generous when it comes to helping others in need, said Kathryn Englehard, executive director of the San Benito chapter of the American Red Cross.
“This is a community that responds very quickly to the needs of others,” she said. “People here are very humanitarian oriented.”
Ladd Lane Elementary School and Sacred Heart School is one of two schools that have contacted the local Red Cross after students returned from winter break asking how they can help in the aftermath of the tsunami. Efforts to collect change in Ladd Lane’s classrooms led to a school-wide coin drive and has given students a chance to contribute to the relief efforts.
The project is appropriate for the school’s compassion theme this year, which teaches kids not only the spelling and meaning of the word, but also allows them a chance to experience it, said Bob Hammond, Ladd Lane’s principal.
“Kids have concerns when they see the devastation of people who don’t have homes or food to eat,” he said. “It hurts them to see other people suffer.”
Hollister’s Adventure Center Skydiving has responded with the same kind of compassion by organizing a fundraising weekend on Jan. 22 and 23 when they will donate $30 from each tandem jump to the American Red Cross. The business expects about 30 people to turn out for dives that weekend, meaning they could generate close to $1,000.
“A lot of fundraising nowadays is partisan,” said Aviva Maiden, a manager at Adventure Center Skydiving, who approached owner Tim Sayer with the idea. “But the people affected by this don’t fall to either side of the political spectrum. They were simply affected by this natural disaster.”
Others who are gathering donations for the relief effort locally are simply concerned citizens who were jolted into action after hearing reports of the tsunami and the steadily climbing death tolls on TV and radio. Cathy Kiles and friend Carol Feisthamel, for example, are petitioning friends and writing letters to local businesses to encourage them to make checks to the Red Cross.
“I am a mother, grandmother and an aunt,” said Kiles. “And seeing the reports on TV, I realize how fortunate we are to not have to worry about something like this.”
Private donations to the Red Cross in the U.S. have exceeded $92 million as of Tuesday, more so than in any other country. However, money donated by the U.S. government has been dwarfed by several other nations such as Australia, which donated $764 million and Germany, which contributed $674 million to the relief effort, according to the Associated Press.
Some try to take advantage of those who would help the victims of disaster
Hollister – While the world mourns the tragedy in South Asia and relief organizations scramble to deliver food and water to survivors, con artists have been busy trying to solicit money on behalf of the Red Cross.
“Whenever there is a tragedy, somehow these people crawl up from underneath a rock,” said Tina Del Piero, director of financial development at the Monterey County Red Cross.
People wanting to donate to the relief effort need to do so by contacting the Red Cross themselves, or if they are interested to other agencies, ask them specific questions about how their money will be used, said Del Piero.
While there have been no reports of fraud in San Benito, the Red Cross of Monterey County has said that it received calls about people collecting money door-to-door and outside shopping centers while claiming they represent the relief organization, said Del Piero. However, the Red Cross never goes to people’s homes and those who are approached by someone claiming to represent the agency should notify the police, said Del Piero.
“If someone just shows up at your door and they can’t show ID, you need to call police right away to let them know there is a suspected violator,” she said.
