Some Rare Good News: Tsunami Aid

Here's some rare pleasant news on how donation surpluses from last year's tsunami can help fulfill longer term goals in affected regions. Hate to be a Debbie Downer but do note the difference in total contributions for the Pakistani earthquake (~$73 Million) vs those of the tsunami ($1.3 billion!).

As the anniversary of the tsunami that struck South Asia approaches, relief groups find themselves in the unusual situation of still having money in the bank.

Roughly half of the estimated $1.3 billion that Americans donated to help the victims of the disaster is still available, and the charities that received it have big plans to rebuild infrastructure, housing, schools, hospitals and lives.

"From our point of view, this is like dying and going to heaven," said Charles MacCormack, president of Save the Children. "It allows us to put together a coherent and systematic long-term plan, rather than living day to day and year to year as we normally do."

Save the Children has never before received enough money for disaster aid to sustain a five-year recovery plan, Mr. MacCormack said. "The only other time we had five years of funding in advance was when the Gates Foundation gave us a $50 million grant for programs to reduce newborn mortality," he said, referring to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Grass-roots philanthropy for the victims of the tsunami broke all fund-raising records for an international humanitarian crisis. The onslaught of money was so robust that it has made the philanthropic response to the earthquake in Pakistan - $73.4 million, according to data collected by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University - seem miserly when in fact it has been generous by historic standards.