Harsh Hurricane Season Puts Strain on Organizations That Provide Relief

The back-to-back hurricanes that hit Florida — and those that may follow in what experts say could be an unusually severe hurricane season — are straining charities’ ability to pay for relief efforts.

Less than a week after Hurricane Frances made landfall, the American Red Cross had raised just $33.8-million for its disaster-relief fund, which stood at less than $1-million when the storms began.

Officials had previously said they would need $50-million just to deal with the aftermath of the first hurricane, Charley, which struck Florida’s Gulf Coast last month. Red Cross officials also want to build up a surplus for the disaster fund of another $50-million to handle other disasters.

The Salvation Army’s Florida division raised about $8-million before the second storm brought the organization’s computers down and made it impossible to count how many donations had been received since then, says Steve G. Dick, the division’s development director. National totals for the Salvation Army were unavailable by press time.

Mr. Dick says he fears donors won’t be able to give enough to cover the needs raised by the multiple storms, and that year-end giving also could be affected.

“We have some people donating who say, ‘This is all I can do, I can’t do much more,’” he says. “We wonder if that’s going to be the general feeling of the public, that people are hurting but there’s only so much they can do.”

Governor’s Fund

After the season’s first big storm hit Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush established a hurricane-relief fund at the Volunteer Florida Foundation, a nonprofit group that funnels private donations to charities to support some of the governor’s social-policy goals, such as increasing literacy. The hurricane fund, which will collect money to be used for rebuilding efforts, had raised $4-million by last week, says Steve Uhfelder, a Tallahassee lawyer who is chief executive officer of the fund. The first $4-million is dedicated entirely to Hurricane Charley relief; additional gifts will be distributed on an as-needed basis for all hurricane victims.

Although it’s too early to estimate how much in charitable donations will be needed to augment government efforts, Mr. Uhfelder suspects the figure could be high. “I don’t think there’ll ever be enough money to deal with the problems we’re facing in Florida,” he says.

Not only homes but livelihoods have been destroyed along with the state’s citrus crop, he says. And the human misery the storm created will have repercussions in three to six months, he says, as more people seek mental-health counseling or experience child or spousal abuse.

To help raise money from outside of the state, the Volunteer Florida Foundation’s hurricane-relief fund ran a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal last week that was paid for by WCI Communities, a retirement-housing developer.

Getting Attention

While the double storms have created fund-raising challenges, they have also helped keep donors’ attention on the probems facing the state, some nonprofit leaders say.

“Frances has certainly kept the hurricane situation in front of people’s faces,” says Ted Granger, president of United Way of Florida.

The United Way has distributed $383,000 so far from the hurricane fund it established after Charley, and money is still coming in, he says.

Separately, the United Way of Tampa has established a fund that had collected $600,000 through the end of August.

Community foundations have also been active in collecting donations:

• The Community Foundation of Central Florida, in Orlando, has $145,000 available to help nonprofit groups hurt by the storms, and has donated $125,000 for immediate relief needs to various groups.
• The Community Foundation of Sarasota County has raised $64,000.
• The Gulfcoast Community Foundation of Venice has collected $525,000, including foundation grants and donations from individuals.
• The Southwest Florida Community Foundation, in Ft. Myers, has received $1-million from the Allstate Foundation to create the Allstate Foundation Disaster Recovery Fund.

The community foundation has also designated $400,000 for relief efforts.

To avoid confusing people with too many different funds, many community foundations are simply urging their donors to give to the United Way, Red Cross, and Salvation Army, says Mark Brewer, president of the Community Foundation of Central Florida.

“We know that donor confusion results in frustration and ultimately less money available,” Mr. Brewer says.

America’s Second Harvest has received about $100,000 for its hurricane fund, and it has spent about $86,000 so far to send 75 truckloads of food, water, and other supplies to Florida, says Susan Hofer, a charity spokeswoman.

While the donations have kept pace with the needs so far, Ms. Hofer is concerned about the coming months.

“We have more than just Charley and Frances to deal with,” she says, noting reports of storm damage in Alabama, Georgia, and other states. In addition, she says, more hurricanes may be on the way. “We’re only halfway through the season.”

Lauren Kafka contributed to this article.