Additional $260 million donated by Red Cross
The American Red Cross (ARC) recently appropriated $360 million in additional funds to provide assistance to families affected by the Sept. 11 attacks.
Assistance totaling $553 million has already been given, and 54,000 cases are still receiving assistance, said Greater Salt Lake Area American Red Cross Chief Development Officer Molly Dumas.
Dumas said this money pays for basic living expenses like food, utilities and rent or mortgage payments.
The ARC Web site, www.RedCross.org, states they expect the Liberty Fund, which was established to provide relief, to reach $850 million in donations which will be given to families and people affected by the attacks.
Utah residents donated $1.2 million of those funds, and the number is still increasing, Dumas said.
According to the ARC Web site, short-term assistance in the amount of $167.9 million has already gone to families of deceased, missing or seriously injured people; $269 million has been given to displaced residents and workers, economically affected individuals and disaster responders.
Long-term relief is also an important issue, Dumas said.
According to the ARC Web site, $80 million is currently appropriated to provide financial assistance over a three- to five-year period.
As an example of the long-term effects disasters can have, Dumas said the Greater Salt Lake Area ARC has just completed one case related to the 1999 tornado in Salt Lake City.
“With the Sept. 11 attacks, these families will be impacted for a long time,” Dumas said.
The ARC has also set aside $25 million to provide continuing support for communities affected, such as the people in Chinatown who basically lost their livelihood, Dumas said.
She said the Greater Salt Lake Area ARC received 316 calls immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks from people who could not contact missing loved ones. Thirteen of those cases were not closed until weeks after the event, she said.
Dumas said she knew of two families in Utah who lost an immediate family member in the attacks. More people were affected in different ways, however, and different types of relief aid are being given, she said.
“Airline families lost their friends and comrades, and we have provided mental health services for employees struggling with that loss,” Dumas said.
Nationally, Dumas said the ARC has provided mental health services for 231,000 people, and direct health services for 128,000 people.
The Greater Salt Lake Area ARC provided airfare for families and friends to attend funerals in New York, as well as providing housing for people unable to fly when the airports were shut down.
Roxanna King, director of the Logan chapter of the ARC, said she did not know of anyone locally who was directly affected and receiving financial assistance.
It has, however, affected different aspects of their work, she said.
“We are rechanneling our focus and are becoming more aware of homeland protection,” King said. “We want everyone to know that they can be trained to provide disaster relief.”
Dumas said one of the beneficial results of the attacks was a rekindled focus on preparation.
“It’s wonderful to be able to build our capacity,” Dumas said. “We may not have more terrorist attacks, but we’ll still have earthquakes, floods and power outages.”
Nine volunteers also went to New York City to help with disaster relief, King said, each staying for about three weeks.
In Utah, 62 volunteers were mobilized, Dumas said, and 55,500 volunteers helped in relief efforts nationwide.
Other in-kind donations were also received.
“Truckloads of blankets, clothing and food poured into New York, and just the dispersion of that is a major challenge,” Dumas said.
She said the response has been incredible since the attacks, and the Greater Salt Lake Area ARC has received many calls from people wanting to help.
“The American public was very generous, which helped us a lot with our efforts,” Dumas said. “Sometimes it was a bit of a burden, but we are very fortunate for their generosity.”