Rebecca Salner, Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
650.450.5525 orrsalner@siliconvalleycf.org

Haiti Relief Fund Raises More Than $500,000

MOUNTAIN VIEW — Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund raised more than $500,000 in donations and is distributing grants to experienced relief organizations working to help the nation recover from the Jan. 12 disaster.

The fund was launched on Jan. 13 with a $50,000 matching challenge by the Irene S. Scully Fund, a donor advised fund at the community foundation. In the days that followed, numerous other community foundation donors, including the Lieve Roelandt Foundation, stepped forward to offer matching challenges. The fund is matching up to $230,330 in gifts.

People from throughout the world responded to the community foundation’s effort, with more than 500 individuals and corporations donating money to help Haiti. While many of the gifts came from residents in the Bay Area, others came from as far away as Peru and Belgium. The fund has received $554,513 in donations so far.

In addition, community foundation donors gave $885,150 directly from donor advised funds to nonprofit organizations working in Haiti that the grantmaking staff recommended. Those donations, coupled with amount raised by the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund, mean that at least $1.4 million in relief will be directed to Haiti through Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

While some donations to the community foundation’s relief fund were large, others gave what they could. St. Lawrence Academy in Santa Clara encouraged students to donate $5 each and pooled the gifts together for a donation of more than $1,500. Atelier Avocado, a Menlo Park boutique that maintains a corporate advised fund at the community foundation, also contributed directly to the effort while large companies, such as National Semiconductor, NetApp and Synopsys encouraged employees to give to the community foundation’s fund.

"We experienced the phenomenal response that many other organizations experienced," said Emmett D. Carson, Ph.D., CEO and president of the community foundation. "What is wonderful about this experience is that it was led by our donors, including those with long-standing interests in Haiti and global giving. We are pleased that we were able to so quickly provide a matching challenge and attract the interest of so many in our region and beyond."

The community foundation’s grantmaking team has awarded $450,000 in immediate grants from the fund to six nonprofit organizations doing relief work. In addition, the community foundation intends to award additional grants from the fund to assist with the long-term rebuilding that Haiti will require. Immediate relief grants have been awarded to the following organizations:

• American Red Cross, which is currently focusing on sending food, providing clean drinking water and distributing shelter items to those in Haiti left homeless. More than 49 flights providing Red Cross relief have arrived in Haiti since the disaster.
• Catholic Relief Services, which has worked in Haiti for 55 years and has long-standing partnerships with schools and hospitals in the country. The organization has been on the ground since the day of the quake occurred and is distributing food and other relief.
• Doctors Without Borders, which has been performing surgery at hospitals in Port-au- Prince and Cite Soleil and also running mobile clinics to search for people who need urgent care.
• Oxfam, which rushed clean water to the informal camps for the homeless and is now trucking clean drinking water to Port-au-Prince and starting water treatment and delivery in other badly damaged towns. Oxfam is distributing other relief supplies and has launched its cash for work program, which gives residents of the camps a chance to earn some income clearing rubble and building latrines.
• Partners in Health, which has worked in Haiti since 1987 and has brought medical care and supplies to some of the hardest hit areas. PIH’s co-founder, Dr. Paul Farmer, was appointed in August 2009 as deputy UN Special Envoy for Haiti.
• Save the Children, which has been working in Haiti since 1978 and in the two weeks following the disaster has reached 105,000 children and adults, providing food, medicine and supplies. The organization is also working to protect vulnerable children, including those separated from their families or orphaned by the quake.

About Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a catalyst and leader for innovative solutions to our region’s most challenging problems. Serving all of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, the community foundation has $1.7 billion in assets under management and 1,500 philanthropic funds. The community foundation provides grants through donor advised and corporate funds in addition to its own Unrestricted Endowment Fund. The community foundation serves as a regional center for philanthropy, providing donors simple and effective ways to give locally and around the world. Find out more at www.siliconvalleycf.org.