The American Red Cross is no longer accepting donations for its Tsunami Relief Program after receiving nearly $350 million in funds since Dec. 26, officials said.
The Hoosier Heartland Chapter of the American Red Cross is instead seeking donations to replenish the money spent after the Jan. 5 ice storm that struck East Central Indiana and left more than 148,000 homes without power, Brian Fern, director of community support, said.
"It did take a significant toll on the local chapter, locally as well as nationally," Fern said.
The local chapter spent over $150,000 providing food, clothing and shelter in seven counties, four of which -- Delaware, Jay, Blackford and Randolph -- were hit hardest by the storm. The National Disaster Relief Fund will reimburse the chapter with about $100,000 of these funds, Fern said.
"We have no obligation to pay them back," he said, "but because we used those funds, we feel we need to replenish them to make sure there are funds in the national Disaster Relief Fund if they are needed again, not only in this area but other areas."
He said individuals worldwide already donated $1.2 billion in tsunami relief aid to the National American Red Cross, International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Societies. That, along with the $2 billion donated by governments internationally, leaves more than $3 billion in aid to the area hit by the tsunami -- enough money to provide service for the next decade, he said.
"It just goes to show you (what people do) when things happen around Christmas," Fern said. "This was probably the most important event that happened around the Christmas season, not to mention how devastating the event was. It got a lot of national press. That helped as well."
Jacob Clere, president of the Ball State University Democrats, worked with the BSU College Republicans and Sigma Nu Fraternity in the Atrium last week to collect money for tsunami relief efforts, raising nearly $250.
Clere, who will be collecting donations with the Asian American Student Association between Tuesday and Friday this week, said he understands the chapter's decision to stop accepting donations.
"I don't want them to collect more money than necessary," Clere said. "Our intention was to help out with that, but certainly people should also support local disaster relief efforts ... If they have collected sufficient funds for the disaster aid relief, I'm pretty confident we won't be collecting for them next week."
The University Democrats will instead donate their money to other philanthropic organizations, such as the United Nations Children's Fund, Clere said.
Elizabeth Douglass, president of the Asian American Student Association, said the organization collected $270 in the past month for tsunami relief efforts and plans to continue collecting donations.
"We specifically did this for the tsunami relief, so in one way or another, we will get the money to the right people," Douglass said.
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