In the span of roughly four weeks, the southern coast of the United States and the island of Puerto Rico were ravaged by multiple hurricanes.
According to a Federal Emergency Management Agency report, 450,000 individuals hit by Hurricane Harvey in August, a Category 4 storm, are expected to file for federal assistance.
The next week Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm, wreaked havoc on parts of Florida, Georgia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. It was closely followed by Hurricane Maria, also a Category 5 storm, which devastated Puerto Rico, leaving the entire island without power.
Led by wave after wave of FEMA volunteers, humanitarian aid in various forms began to pour into the impacted areas from corporations and individuals across the nation and the world – Rhode Island organizations among them.
On Oct. 4 CVS Health Corp. announced it was donating $10 million – $4 million in cash and $6 million in goods, split evenly among charities in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico – following the recent storms.
“While no donation is ever required,” said Eileen Howard Boone, CVS senior vice president of corporate social responsibility and philanthropy, “we appreciate the generosity of our customers and colleagues as much of the country recovers from these devastating storms.”
In early October the Rhode Island Community Food Bank sent two of its truck drivers to Beaumont, Texas, to provide relief to workers who not only were aiding community members but whose own homes had been damaged by Hurricane Harvey.
As those impacted assessed their situation, it became clear cash was the most useful donation – a move espoused by University of Rhode Island College of Business professors Koray Özpolat and Gary Kayakachoian.
“No donated item travels faster than cash, and such organizations will get the cash directly to the stricken area and purchase what people truly need on the ground. Such purchases will help the local businesses in and around Houston and will thus stimulate the disaster area’s economy,” they said in a statement.
Heeding their advice, the YMCA of Pawtucket, together with its four sister branches in Providence, Newport, Smithfield and Westerly, donated $5,000 to the YMCA of Greater Houston to support humanitarian aid efforts in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
In line with Özpolat and Kayakachoian, Charles R. Clifford, YMCA of Pawtucket CEO, said: “Cash is the best way for us to deploy help from as far away as Rhode Island.”
‘People might give a little bit later than they normally do.’
ANDREW SCHIFF, Rhode Island Community Food Bank CEO
The storm-related appeals came only months before the holiday fundraising season, a time of year on which many nonprofit organizations rely to meet their financial goals. This is especially true in Rhode Island, a state not widely known outside its borders for philanthropy.
A 2005 Catalogue for Philanthropy report found Rhode Islanders ranked last among the 50 states for donations itemized in federal income-tax deductions. Eleven years later the state ranked fourth lowest in the nation at No. 47, according to the Watertown, Mass.-based publication.
In 2014 the Rhode Island Foundation focused its 2014-2018 strategic plan on encouraging philanthropy among locals. When the 2016 Catalogue for Philanthropy report was released last December, the foundation launched a pilot program – six giving circles led by local, diverse fundraisers – matching donations made by these individuals throughout the state’s nonprofit community.
Sandi Connors, United Way of Rhode Island executive vice president and director of strategic marketing and communications, said “it’s always possible” the organization might receive fewer donations this holiday season but hopes an update and rebrand of their online giving platform reverses historic trends.
Called My Fund, the financial organizational software links to UWRI’s giving platform, allowing donors to give to any nonprofit organization across the country.
In addition, said Connors, “as long as we have the funds by Dec. 31, we can give you a tax receipt for 2017 [and] you would have the entire 2018 calendar year to decide where to send that money.”
While the YMCA of Pawtucket runs on a fiscal year basis, Clifford projected the upcoming holiday fundraising term would bring in $50,000 from individuals and foundations, a similar total to previous years.
Andrew Schiff, food bank CEO, knows the state’s giving history but is optimistic now that the recession has passed. He thinks many Rhode Islanders have returned to their pre-2008 philanthropic habits.
In terms of storm-related giving fatigue, Schiff said people who can afford to give during tragedies – such as Sept. 11, 2001, 2007’s Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy in 2012 – do not overlook the year-round need.
This year, he said, “people might give a little bit later than they normally do … but [they’re] not [choosing]” between storm-related aid and holiday fundraising.
