Local aid groups back tsunami relief efforts

Published 9:00 pm Monday, January 3, 2005

Local organizations that provide food, housing and other emergency social services said Monday that they aren’t worried that the outpouring of donations to tsunami victims will have a long-term financial effect on their programs.

The focus is where it should be, on tsunami survivors who could die if they don’t get immediate food or medical care, said Debbie Jordan, spokeswoman for Volunteers of America.

“It doesn’t feel like a diversion (of resources) to me,” she said. “It feels like where it needs to be sent right now.”

Any impact on giving to local social service organizations will be shortterm, Jordan said. “This is a community you can really depend on to step up in time of need.”

The Salvation Army is just one local social service organization that often sees somewhat of a dip in local donations when there’s a national or international disaster, said Dana Libby, who helps lead the Everett chapter with his wife, Mary.

That dip can take some time to recover from, he said. “It’s a product of sending funds where there’s the most urgent need.

“It may mean some challenges for us,” Libby said of public donations to Asia relief efforts. “It’s not something that causes us to despair. In fact, we want to encourage an outpouring for an urgent need.”

The Salvation Army has ties to India and Sri Lanka that date back to the 19th century – about 10 years before the organization established its base in Everett in 1892, Libby said.

“We have a kinship with that part of the world because there’s a large number of Salvation Army officers and employees there,” he said.

United Way of Snohomish County has established a link on its Web page (www.uwsc.org) to the United Way of America’s efforts to provide housing and other long-term help to affected areas, said Carl Zapora, president of the local chapter.

Donations to the overseas relief efforts shouldn’t hurt the organizations served by the local United Way. The chapter already has concluded its annual fund drive, which kicked off in the fall.

“Having said that, any time there’s a big regional, national or international crisis, it is everyone’s overwhelming desire to help,” Zapora said.

“I would expect some organizations will be affected. We only hope people in Snohomish County continue to hold to their commitments to local charitable organizations,” he said.

The local Red Cross chapter was one of the organizations that saw a big hit to local donations after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“I guess that’s always a possibility,” board chairman James Shipman said of whether people would do the same during this crisis.

However, both the national and international Red Cross are deeply involved in helping tsunami survivors.

“What we typically see is a lot of additional donations specifically marked for the particular national or international event,” Shipman said. “We forward those on immediately.

“We’ll continue to work hard to raise funds locally as well,” he added.

Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.