Drowning in generosity Drowning in generosity (October 07, 2005)

Diverted Katrina funds leave local Red Cross chapter strapped for cash

By Molly Tanenbaum

Ever since Katrina hit the Southeast in late August, contributions to the Red Cross for hurricane relief have skyrocketed, topping $600,000 from local donors alone. Counter-intuitively, all this philanthropy has put a financial burden on the Red Cross' Palo Alto office.

The local chapter, which serves Mountain View, has ramped up its recruiting and other services dramatically, even as a large chunk of its normal funding is being redirected straight to the National Red Cross. The result is a squeeze that has local Red Cross officials concerned about finances.

Beginning Aug. 27, more than half of all donations received at the nearby chapter have been redirected to Katrina relief, meaning that the funding goes to national Red Cross headquarters and cannot be used for local hurricane relief efforts, according to Trish Bubenik, executive director of the Palo Alto Area Red Cross. More than a month later, that redirected money totals about $350,000, Bubenik said.

In addition to those funds, another $250,000 was sent directly to the national Red Cross from donors in the local chapter's jurisdiction, including in Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford and Moffett Field, Bubenik said.

Meanwhile, the local chapter has remained open seven days a week, increasing its training services to prepare local residents for deployment in the South or to aid with evacuees here at home. The chapter has processed more than 500 volunteer applications, deployed 38 volunteers to hurricane-affected areas, and served more than 140 evacuees so far, Bubenik said. This weekend, she added, the chapter will close for the first time since Katrina was about to strike.

While the chapter is heavily volunteer-supported, increased operational costs include printing, phone calls, gas, postage and water. And all this is provided without financial assistance from the national Red Cross.

Though the redirection of contributions is typical during a time of disaster, the loss of such a significant portion of funding has worried Bubenik, who believes this pattern will continue.

"Those redirected dollars are budgeted as revenue which will have to be made up if we can, though the gap will most likely grow as generous donors continue to support this unprecedented disaster response," Bubenik said.

Fortunately, several local agencies have made larger-than-normal donations directly to the Palo Alto Chapter, including El Camino Hospital Foundation, Roche Palo Alto and the city of Los Altos Hills. Individual donors have also designated nearly $30,000 to the local chapter's operations.

"They were really struggling to see how they would deal with these increased costs," said Jon Friedenberg, president of the El Camino Hospital Foundation. "So we were pleased to provide them with a grant."

The Palo Alto chapter relies on donations to stay afloat, Bubenik said. Of those donations, 37 percent come from individuals, with the rest coming from businesses and foundations.

E-mail Molly Tanenbaum at mtanenbaum@mv-voice.com

E-mail a friend a link to this story.