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 NEW YORK (AP) - Even with Congress earmarking billions of federal dollars for Hurricane Katrina relief, private charities are urging donors to keep on giving, contending their field operations remain crucial in meeting emergency needs and ensuring long-term aid to the worst-off victims.
Less than two weeks after the storm hit the Gulf Coast, private gifts have soared to nearly $700 million, a pace exceeding the response to the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The American Red Cross alone had received $503 million in gifts and pledges as of Friday, nearly equaling the $534 million collected for its Liberty Fund over two months following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Red Cross spokeswoman Sheila Graham said the organization hopes the gifts will keep pouring in; it expects to need more than $1 billion to provide emergency relief over the coming weeks for thousands of evacuees who have scattered among 675 of its shelters in 23 states.
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