CORPORATION LEADERS CHANNEL HALF OF $1 MILLION PLEDGE TO RELIEF AGENCIES ON THE GROUND IN THE HARDEST HIT REGIONS OF SOUTH ASIA AND HALF TO UNICEF FOR LONG-TERM REBUILDING
Carnegie Corporation of New York's tsunami response pledge will be divided evenly between immediate response work on the ground in South Asia and long-term rebuilding efforts focused on the needs of children.
"When we made our pledge, just days after the tsunami devastated a geographically wide and culturally diverse area of South Asia, the board of the Corporation felt compelled to act quickly in order to show maximum solidarity with those suffering in that part of the world, and to prove once again that the American philanthropic tradition is an important resource when the world faces cataclysmic, man-made or natural disasters that unhinge societies,” said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York. "Clearly, the outpouring of support from the American government, corporations and individuals signals how diverse and how wide the philanthropic tradition is in our nation. Our support will bolster and undergird five diverse organizations that work on first-response needs and that have distribution channels already on the ground and involved in immediate disaster relief. We also wanted Corporation support to go to the long-term needs and sustainability of children’s educational needs that will follow initial disaster relief, something UNICEF does year-in and year-out."
The Corporation will make $100,000 grants to five relief organizations: The American Red Cross (International Response Fund), International Federation of Red Cross/ Red Crescent, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps (South East Asia Earthquake Response) and Save the Children (Asia Earthquake/Tidal Wave Relief Fund).
UNICEF, the international organization focused on children's needs, will receive $500,000 to aid rebuilding, with emphasis on educational infrastructure, a top priority for the Corporation since its founding.
Carnegie Corporation of New York was created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote “the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding.” As a grantmaking foundation, the Corporation seeks to carry out Carnegie’s vision of philanthropy, which he said should aim “to do real and permanent good in the world.” The Corporation’s capital fund, originally donated at a value of about $135 million, had a market value of $1.8 billon on September 30, 2003. The Corporation awards grants totaling approximately $80 million a year in the areas of education, international peace and security, international development and strengthening U.S. democracy.
