Disaster Aid Donations Remain Steady

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STEVE INSKEEP, host:

A tsunami in Asia, hunger in Africa, hurricanes in the United States, then an earthquake is South Asia raise a question about compassion fatigue. That question is how often people can open their hearts and wallets. We've been overwhelmed with stories of disaster, and, in fact, we'll hear another in just a few minutes, the experience of an aid worker in Pakistan. But as NPR's Luke Burbank found, people have not slowed down their generous giving.

LUKE BURBANK reporting:

Randy Strash has seen a lot in his 26 years with the Christian aid organization World Vision International. He says not much surprises him anymore, but even he would have been doubtful if someone had predicted to him a year ago just how much calamity would soon befall different parts of the globe.

Mr. RANDY STRASH (World Vision International): I'm not sure I would have believed you about all the disasters.

BURBANK: A tsunami, famine, hurricanes, flooding and devastating earthquakes. Relief groups say the past year has been nearly unprecedented when it comes to rapidly occurring natural disasters. And yet, there's been something else that Randy Strash wouldn't have predicted.

Mr. STRASH: I would have had a hard time believing you that the donors didn't run out of steam.

BURBANK: But they haven't. Even after giving literally billions of dollars to tsunami, hurricane and other relief efforts, many Americans are digging into their pockets yet again to aid the victims in Pakistan and India.

Mr. STRASH: I'm amazed, actually. We're seeing this responsiveness, which I would have expected to have been exhausted by now.

BURBANK: The actual amount of money donated so far in the wake of the Pakistan earthquake is much less than was given just after the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. And that's led some media to report compassion fatigue is setting in, but experts say that comparison is flawed. After all, the tsunami killed almost a quarter of a million people and occurred the day after Christmas, when families were home, watching the events on TV. And Katrina was a domestic disaster. They tend to generate more support here in the US. Randy Strash says if you want to compare apples to apples, you have to go back to 2003.

Mr. STRASH: There was an earthquake of about this size two years ago in Iran, in Bam. I think in that first week, we brought in about $550,000.

BURBANK: And what about this time around?

Mr. STRASH: We've seen about $700,000 come in, so, in fact, we're a little bit ahead of that.

Ms. LAURIE REINHARD (American Red Cross): The event itself really is important and really does drive the response.

BURBANK: Laurie Reinhard directs disaster fund raising for the American Red Cross, where they've also seen donations on par with similar events. She says not all disasters are created equal when it comes to motivating donations. Slow-moving crises like HIV, malaria and famine are notoriously hard to raise money for, while rapidly occurring events--a tsunami, earthquake or hurricane--follow the `It could happen to me' principle.

Ms. REINHARD: You're looking at the tsunami and people saw themselves on vacation; they saw themselves on a beach, maybe not there, but they've been on a beach before. I mean, that could happen anywhere.

BURBANK: Frieda Menon(ph) did give after the tsunami and after Katrina and Rita. Standing at her post, volunteering at the UNICEF gift shop in New York, the retired social worker says she'd like to donate to the recent earthquake victims, too, but...

Ms. FRIEDA MENON (Disaster Donor): I cannot. I feel bad, you know, but just lack of money, not a lack of desire.

BURBANK: For the time being, there appears to be enough other people who do have the means to keep giving, but the Red Cross' Laurie Reinhard isn't sure how long that'll last.

Ms. REINHARD: If we get one more big one like this, it does make me wonder if people could reach out and support that in the same way. There's probably a line, and no one knows exactly where that line is yet.

BURBANK: Wherever it is, Americans could be moving closer to it as the 21st named storm of the season, tropical storm Wilma, continues to strengthen. Luke Burbank, NPR News, New York.

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