Monday, February 20, 2006
The Czechs check for Katrina
"I couldn't believe such a small country would help us so much," said Sue Bosarge last week, after accepting a check for $111,000 from the Czech Ambassador to the US Petr Kolar. The Lousiana bayou town lost its entire library of 14,000 books after Hurricane Katrina submerged the little log cabin library in more than a meter of water.
The Czech Ambassador was busy last week, he also handed $100,000 to St. Vincent de Paul's Pharmacy in Biloxi, Mississippi. The volunteer agency has served the community for seven years, providing prescription medications to people who can't afford them.
The Czech Republic has given about $1 million to aid the survivors of Katrina, while in total last year it allocated some $15 million in aid to various regions hit by natural disasters.
That doesn't include private donations. I remember stumbling across a benefit concert to raise funds to send to the States on TV. In classic fashion, none of the English-language media -- in particular, media run by Americans -- paid any attention to the efforts.
I have no idea how these two projects came to the attention of Czech government officials. Anyone who has every been in a disaster area -- and lately those opportunities have been rife -- is aware of the myriad opportunities for aid, but it was nice to see a real attempt to provide direct assistance in a way that cuts out the middleman, and hopefully the chances of graft. Maybe my own government will get the hint.
The Czech Ambassador was busy last week, he also handed $100,000 to St. Vincent de Paul's Pharmacy in Biloxi, Mississippi. The volunteer agency has served the community for seven years, providing prescription medications to people who can't afford them.
The Czech Republic has given about $1 million to aid the survivors of Katrina, while in total last year it allocated some $15 million in aid to various regions hit by natural disasters.
That doesn't include private donations. I remember stumbling across a benefit concert to raise funds to send to the States on TV. In classic fashion, none of the English-language media -- in particular, media run by Americans -- paid any attention to the efforts.
I have no idea how these two projects came to the attention of Czech government officials. Anyone who has every been in a disaster area -- and lately those opportunities have been rife -- is aware of the myriad opportunities for aid, but it was nice to see a real attempt to provide direct assistance in a way that cuts out the middleman, and hopefully the chances of graft. Maybe my own government will get the hint.
# posted by VMH @ 2:55 PM 
