|
Save the Children Meets $250,000 Challenge Grant from Hollywood Charity for Myanmar Cyclone Relief Efforts
 |
Save the Children staff providing support to children who have been displaced by Cyclone Nargis through a child-friendly space.
|
Donations Pour In, Challenge Achieved in Under One Week
Westport, Conn. (May 23, 2008) — George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and other leaders of the non-profit group Not On Our Watch inspired hundreds of people to open their wallets this past week to help children in cyclone-affected Myanmar. Save the Children announced today that a $250,000 challenge grant from Not On Our Watch to help with Myanmar cyclone relief and recovery efforts has been matched by other donors less than a week after the challenge was made.
After the announcement of the grant on May 13, donations to the agency's cyclone relief efforts poured in. The initial matching grant agreement allowed one year for contributions of up to $250,000 to be matched by Not On Our Watch. But it took less than a week for generous donors to meet the goal.
"We're delighted to have raised the $250,000 challenge grant so quickly," said Charles MacCormack, president and CEO of Save the Children. "We are extremely grateful to Not On Our Watch and its founders — Don Cheadle, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Jerry Weintraub and David Pressman — for sharing their resources and inspiring others to give to help children and families in Myanmar."
"We received calls from people who were motivated to give after learning of the challenge grant," MacCormack added. "It offered people a way to double the value and impact of their contribution to our relief and recovery efforts. As a result, more children in Myanmar will benefit."
"It has been a challenge to mobilize sufficient relief operations for victims of the cyclone," said Alex Wagner, Executive Director of Not On Our Watch. "Despite this fact, Save the Children has been delivering lifesaving aid in the country's most devastated regions. Not On Our Watch is proud to support these efforts and we encourage others to keep donations coming during this critical period."
In addition to the challenge grant, Not On Our Watch provided a $250,000 donation to Save the Children's Myanmar cyclone relief fund. The combined $500,000 donation will allow Save the Children to expand its relief and recovery efforts in Myanmar and distribute more food, water and essential non-food items. Additionally, funds contributed will help support Save the Children's efforts to restore the education system in Myanmar and help children return to school in early June.
To date, Save the Children has reached 160,632 people in Myanmar (including more than 50,000 children) with food, water, shelter materials, household supplies and oral-rehydration salts to treat diarrhea. Survivors receiving assistance include nearly 90,000 people in the Yangon area, more than 56,000 in the western Delta and more than 15,000 in the country's eastern Delta region. Save the Children, which has been working in Myanmar for 13 years, has programs in the five most devastated districts.
While assistance is reaching many children and families in need, thousands of lives are still at risk. The cyclone has left more than 1 million people homeless and destroyed thousands of homes and schools. Humanitarian agencies are expressing concern about an impending hungry season, as the rice planting that normally begins in June may be hampered by lack of tools and supplies, as well as by land made less arable by an influx of salt water from the storm surge. Even before the disaster, an estimated 30 percent of children in the region suffered from chronic malnutrition, according to health experts.
Save the Children has raised $4.7 million in donations and pledges in the United States for its Myanmar cyclone response. Save the Children agencies worldwide are seeking $28 million for relief and recovery efforts.
Save the Children, with 500 staff in-country, is one of the largest nongovernmental organizations at work in Myanmar. The agency implements programs focused on early childhood care and development, child survival and child protection.
Learn more about Save the Children's response in Myanmar to the needs of children and families like these.
Donate now to support Save the Children's immediate and long-term response to the children and families affected by Cyclone Nargis.
