News:

10-3-2005
Smaller Charities Feel Brunt Of Katrina, Rita
Donations going to Gulf victims causing cutbacks for others

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Ida Cahill has seen this story before.

Just over four years ago donations from the public shifted from their regular charities to those associated with helping victims through charities directly involved with the 9-11 attacks. The former Senior Director of Development for the Christopher Reeve Foundation who is now president of the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation, Ms. Cahill sees the same thing happening again.

“The American people are very giving and they readily rally to important causes. We saw that after 9-11 and we are seeing that in reaction to the hurricanes in the Gulf,” Cahill said. “But the result of that affects other charities as well. With billions going to help those in the Gulf, a lot of charitable giving is being cut back in other areas.”

Not that Cahill doesn’t understand the needs as a result of the hurricanes. The Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation has donated, and is working to develop further donations, to the Centers for Independent Living in the Gulf Coast region of Texas, Biloxi, Miss., and New Orleans.

“There are some tremendous needs in these areas, and we not only understand the billions being directed to help people but we have contributed ourselves,” she continued. “But the important work of other charities – the important work we are doing daily with the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation – doesn’t stop.

“Charitable giving is discretionary and most families budget for that. The extra giving because of the hurricanes has stretched a lot of those budgets,” she continued.

“What happened in the aftermath of 9-11 was a lot of the smaller charities couldn’t continue. In many places, there were desperate pleas from the soup kitchens and other charities that have direct impact on the local communities.

“We are working on trying to help the Katrina and Rita victims, as are many others – and we, like so many people and charities, are running up against financial limits. What makes it tough for a small charity is that when we use our resources for disaster relief, it takes our donations away from, for example, research. Then that suffers, and if our donors have been generous with the Katrina and Rita relief, then, ultimately, it limits our ability to help our regular causes. Those causes continue whether a disaster has struck or not.”

Sam Schmidt, a winning race car driver who is now a quadriplegic car owner in the Infiniti Pro Series, is founder of the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation (www.samschmidt.org), which helps individuals overcome spinal cord injuries and other neurological disorders by funding scientific research, medical treatment, rehabilitation and technological advances. This research also benefits stroke victims and people diagnosed with ALS, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. SSPF also addresses quality of life issues benefiting people with paralysis and other disabilities through its Day At The Races program, and works tirelessly promoting advocacy concerns.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Williams Company of America, Inc. (704) 660-0796