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Save the Children Receives $500,000 Grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation for South Asia Earthquake Response
WESTPORT, CT (December 21, 2005) –
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Maira Camp where about 3000 people have come to spend the winter. These are among the poorest people in the country. Many of them walked 2 days, the children often with no shoes. Save the Children is establishing a basic health unit in this camp, and providing relief and medical care. |
Save the Children today announced that it has received a 1-year, $500,000 grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to address the long-term recovery needs of families, with an emphasis on women and children, affected by the October earthquake that struck Pakistan and India.
This is one of four grants that the Hilton Foundation has made to help the Pakistan earthquake victims, bringing its total commitment for the South Asia earthquake to $1.2 million. In addition to the $500,000 grant to Save the Children, the Hilton Foundation made a $500,000 grant to Islamic Relief for temporary and long-term shelter, the first and only grant this organization has received from a U.S. foundation for Pakistan relief efforts . Another $200,000 was given to Luftfahrt Ohne Grenzen (“Aviation Without Borders”) to transport critically needed relief supplies to the affected area organized by Princess Salimah Aga Khan.
“Children were disproportionately affected by the earthquake, and are now extremely vulnerable. Prior to the crisis, families were living in difficult circumstances. Now, as winter sets in, their health and living situations will become even more precarious,” said Charles MacCormack, president and CEO of Save the Children. “This grant will allow Save the Children to reach more children and families, and to address the immediate and long-term health, shelter and other survival needs of earthquake survivors.”
Steven M. Hilton, President and CEO of the Hilton Foundation, said, "This grant is very much in keeping with our foundation's mission to alleviate human suffering. In addition, it aligns with our grantmaking strategy in that it provides funds for the immediate relief of earthquake victims while also supporting projects that will make a difference in the long-term.”
On October 8, the worst earthquake in Pakistan ’s modern history leveled communities across a 12,000-square-mile swath of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir . Some 73,300 people were killed and more than 3 million left homeless. With severe winter weather quickly approaching and children and families exposed to the elements and in urgent need, Save the Children is sustaining a large-scale humanitarian relief effort it began within hours of this epic catastrophe. The agency also is looking to long-term recovery as it sets up temporary schools and provides health outreach in the affected area.
Based in Los Angeles , the Hilton Foundation was created in 1944 by the late hotel entrepreneur and business leader, Conrad N. Hilton, who left his fortune to the foundation with instructions to help the most disadvantaged and vulnerable throughout the world without regard to religion, ethnicity or geography. Along with its related entities, the foundation has total assets of approximately $2.5 billion and, since its inception, has provided more than $440 million to organizations throughout the United States and the world. For more information, hiltonfoundation.org.
