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Rotary donates $24K to CARE
Adding to the over $210,000 in recovery efforts funding, the Rotary Club of Saipan yesterday presented a check for $24,000 to director Jenny Hegland and consultant Geri Willis of the Commonwealth Advocates for Recovery Efforts at the Rotary’s weekly meeting at Hyatt Regency Saipan.
The Rotary Club of Saipan presents a check for $24,000 to Commonwealth Advocates for Recovery Efforts director Jenny Hegland and consultant Geri Willis during Rotary’s weekly meeting at the Hyatt Regency Saipan. (Daisy Demapan)
Hegland stated that the CARE team is transitioning into long-term recovery efforts.
Earlier this month Karidat raised $10,250 in donations, while CARE received $30,000 from Saipan World Resort with a portion from the Lieutenant Governor’s Office and a Laolao Bay Golf & Resort donation of $10,000 from their Play Golf for Typhoon Victims fundraiser. Last week Bridge Capital, LLC donated $35,000 worth of construction materials, while Tan Holdings donated $150,000 raised through their Project Ayudu Saipan campaign.
According to Hegland, the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster or VOAD and other partners started work two months ago to establish CARE.
“We’re still learning about the unmet needs of the community… so in terms of our goals, part of our mission is to facilitate coordination between network partners, business and government leaders, and community volunteers,” she said.
“As we’ve been developing CARE, we’re using best practices. We’re really drawing on the guidance of the VOAD so that we can learn about what’s worked well in communities in the past. We’ve also established a fiscal agent, which is Karidat, because they are a federally recognized non-profit organization,” she said.
The disaster case management program that has been set up by the Federal Emergency Management Agency is a critical component to the coordination work of CARE.
“We have developed a partnership with the Americorps Disaster Response team and this has allowed us to reach out to people in the community to establish a centralized database that will house all survivor needs going forward. As of right now we’re in the process of securing financial and in-kind donations,” she said. (Daisy Demapan)
