More Than $4 Million Donated to Relief and Cleanup Efforts

by: Nicole Wallace | from: The Chronicle of Philanthropy | June 10, 2010

A month and a half after the start of the drilling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, donors have contributed more than $4-million to support relief efforts.

Among the recipients:

Grant Makers

• The Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health, a project started by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors after Hurricane Katrina, had received more than $245,000 as of June 9. The fund has awarded $155,000 in emergency grants to 27 grass-roots environmental groups in the region. The Gulf Coast Fund also organized a three-day tour that allow potential donors to see the work and meet the leaders of the groups the fund supports, which resulted in commitments of at least $60,000 to those organizations.

• The Gulf Oil Spill Fund, created by the Greater New Orleans Foundation, stands at $130,000, including an initial gift of $60,000 from the foundation. The foundation has awarded a $50,000 grant to Seedco Financial for its Southeast Louisiana Fisheries Assistance Center, in Belle Chasse.

• A benefit concert in New Orleans headlined by the singer Lenny Kravitz brought in $300,000 for the newly formed Gulf Relief Foundation.

• The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, in Baton Rouge, has awarded emergency grants totaling $117,500 to nine local nonprofit groups that are providing assistance to communities affected by the spill.

— John Moore/Getty Images

Gulf-Coast Charities

• The Audubon Nature Institute, in New Orleans, had raised $42,735 as of June 8.

• Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans had received $882,850 as of June 8, including a $750,000 contribution from BP America.

• Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana had received $376,400 as of June 8, including two donations from BP America that totaled $350,000.

National Charities

• Greenpeace USA had received $260,000 as of June 8.

• The Audubon Society, in New York, had raised more than $1-million as of June 9, including a $750,000 gift from Chevron for group’s new Volunteer Response Center in Moss Point, Miss.

• The National Wildlife Federation, in Reston, Va., had received $480,000 as of June 4, including $20,000 via text messaging.

• The Nature Conservancy, in Arlington, Va., had received 89,216 as of June 7.

• Oceana, in Washington, had received more than $15,000 as of June 8.

• Waterkeeper Alliance, in Irvington, N.Y., was awarded a $100,000 grant from the footwear company Teva on June 2.

Posted with permission of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, www.philanthropy.com