Donations steady as aid agencies help hurricane victims along Gulf Coast

TORONTO (CP) - Canadians are opening their wallets to help the victims of hurricane Katrina, but the support has a long way to go to rival the generosity prompted by the tsunami that flooded southeast Asia late last year, charitable organizations said Tuesday.

"I still think there's a lot of people who want to do something," said Dave Toycen, president of World Vision Canada, which is currently receiving about 400 donations a day. "But it's probably that they may not feel the pressure to do as much as, say, with the tsunami."

The organization has raised about $250,000 so far for the relief effort in Louisiana, and while Toycen said he's pleased with the sum, it's a fraction of the aid money collected in the week following last year's deadly Boxing Day tsunami.

"We probably would have raised two or three times this in the same time period at least, maybe even more."

By Jan. 11, the deadline Ottawa set for donations that would be matched with federal funds, Canada's six principal aid agencies had raised more than $154 million, just two weeks after the tsunami struck.

Some in Canada are likely questioning the need to donate at all, given the reputation of the United States as a wealthy, first-world country, Toycen noted. But with the mayor of New Orleans predicting 10,000 dead in that city alone, aid agencies agreed the crisis is very real.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Canadian Red Cross had collected $2.8 million in donations - a substantial sum, but far from the $26 million it raised during the five days following the tsunami.

"There is a huge need for support, especially in the emergency phase," said spokeswoman Suzanne Charest.

She said the Red Cross has sent 37 Canadian volunteers to the affected area to support American relief efforts and workers have heard from many more people offering up their assistance.

"We're flooded with calls from people who want to go down and help," Charest said. "I think there are a lot of Canadians who are compelled by the images they see - albeit in Sri Lanka, Indonesia or the U.S. - these are vulnerable people."

For the many people who have travelled to the afflicted areas on vacation or business, the tragedy hits particularly close to home, she added.

"People are compelled and are compassionate and wanting to help."

The Red Cross shipped out some 20,000 cots and blankets from Montreal on Tuesday to go to hurricane refugees, although agencies are unanimously calling for cash over goods like blankets and clothes, which are costly to ship and distribute.

Often, they just end up languishing in warehouses long after the crisis is over, Toycen said. "Cash can be used in just so many ways," he said. "It allows you the flexibility depending on what's the most pressing need." Continued....