November 13, 2003 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Disaster-relief charities and other nonprofit organizations have raised more than $8.5-million for the victims of the Southern California wildfires.
The American Red Cross has received by far the largest amount, with $5.9-million in donations and pledges.
The organization has stopped soliciting for fire-relief efforts because it has raised enough money to cover the cost of its operations in the area, said Ray Steen, a Red Cross spokesman at the national office, in Washington.
While the Red Cross has met its financial needs for the immediate disaster, the group is desperate for undesignated donations to its national disaster-relief fund, said Mr. Steen.
“The disaster-relief fund is still on empty,” he said. “We’re telling the American public that earmarking donations, as has been done for this operation, handcuffs our ability to respond to other disasters.”
In response to the organization’s pleas, the GE Foundation last week donated $400,000 to the disaster-relief fund.
Of the money given to the Red Cross for the wildfires, $2.36-million was raised by the Red Cross chapter in San Diego, a city hard hit by the disaster. But earlier allegations of mismanagement at the chapter have prompted some donors to express concern about how their money will be spent, said Gayle L. Falkenthal, a spokeswoman for the San Diego Red Cross.
Last year, the national Red Cross fired the head of the San Diego group and dissolved the chapter’s board of trustees, in part because the chapter did not provide a public accounting of funds it had raised to help victims of a fire in 2001.
“We’re taking the steps to assure donors that their money is going to what they want,” said Ms. Falkenthal. The Red Cross plans to hire an accounting company to oversee how the disaster funds are spent, she said.
Other charities that have raised money for the disaster include:
- The California Community Foundation: $350,000 for its relief fund.
- The Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego: $110,-000.
- The Salvation Army of Sierra del Mar: $616,000. The Salvation Army has itself fallen victim to the fires, losing eight cabins on a 575-acre campground the group owns in Romona. The damage to the property is estimated in the millions of dollars, said Lt. Col. Douglas O’Brien, divisional commander of the Salvation Army of Sierra del Mar.
- The San Diego Foundation: $1.6-million for two separate relief funds. Most of that money — $1.4-million — is in the San Diego Fire Relief Fund, a donor-advised fund established by the National Football League. Alex Spanos, owner of the San Diego Chargers football team, contributed $1-million to that fund.
Other large donations for recovery efforts — all made to the Red Cross — include $500,000 from the Bank of America Foundation, $250,000 from the Wells Fargo Foundation, and $250,000 from Washington Mutual.
