Jakarta, Indonesia-Relief -- The US Tides Foundation, as revealed on its website, has awarded $280,000 to various NGOs that provide help in Asia tsunami zones. Three Indonesian NGOs has received 111,194 for immediate and longterm relief efforts: Idep Foundation, Hapsari, and Eye on Aceh.
The biggest grantees of Tides' Rapid Respond Fund is Idep Foundation, which received $75,614. Idep is one of the few organizations currently functioning in the devastated Aceh region in Indonesia, it is distributing buckets of aid, to every family it can reach in isolated areas. These buckets contain items ranging from emergency shelter materials, food and personal care items, to chisels and two-men saws for communities to begin rebuilding.
Eye on Aceh, NGO specializing in publishing of critical news on Aceh, received $30,000 for one year's costs for a women's sewing cooperative in Muara Bantu, one year's costs for a women's baking cooperative serving Tiro, Banda Baru and Mutiara, seed money for a small grant scheme and one year's costs for two food cooperatives. $5,000 of the grant to Eye on Aceh was made in partnership with Giant Steps Foundation.
Hapsari (Himpunan Serikat Perempuan Indonesia), a women's organization with a membership of six women's unions, provided with &6,300, of which $3,150.00 for loans to expand the operations of farmers and fisherfolk in four villages of Pantai Cermin and $3,150.00 to build study centers for children in two villages of Pantai Cermin, in North Sumatra.
On a news release in May, Tides said the organization has grant $400,000 to tsunami NGOs, while in its grantee list the amount is only 280,000.
Tides also revealed that $30,000 of the donations to the Tides Rapid Response Fund for the Asian Tsunami came from online donations via Groundspring.org, Tides Foundation's sister organization.
Groundspring.org provides nonprofit organizations with an Internet donation service, DonateNow, which has processed more than $800,000 in Tsunami related donations for nonprofits since the disaster. © che