Catholic Charities Calls Out Nation for Keeping Wallets Closed to Flood Relief

The national office of Catholic Charities is calling for donations to benefit Tennessee flood victims. The agency is also pointing out the lack of giving compared to past disasters.

To date, Catholic Charities has raised $150 million for Hurricane Katrina in an outpouring of philanthropy for the hard-hit Gulf Coast. Most of that money came in the first few months after the disaster. A month out from the flooding that did more than $2 billion in damage to Nashville alone, Catholic Charities has received two gifts for a combined $600.

The agency’s Roger Conner says Hurricane Katrina did cause more widespread devastation than Tennessee’s floods, but the discrepancy in giving shows a lack of information.

“If you accept the fact that Nashville ain’t Katrina, still certainly it doesn’t seem appropriate to compare $150 million to $600. [laughs]”

Conner says Tennessee’s floods didn’t benefit from wall-to-wall national news coverage, primarily because of other big stories like the oil spill in the Gulf. But Catholic Charities hasn’t gotten much money for the growing number of oil spill victims either – $520 so far.

“I think this is a classic story here of one, bumping into a disaster that occurred at the same time that removed appropriate news coverage. Number two, I don’t think, for some reason, I don’t know what it is, that there’s the same feeling.”

Tennessee-based non-profits say much of their fundraising has come from local sources. The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee has raised more than $3 million. Most of the out-of-state donations came through a telethon that aired on Great American Country.