Muslim Charity Provides Disaster Relief to Hurricane Sandy Victims

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March 2013,  Muslim-American Activism

Muslim Charity Provides Disaster Relief to Hurricane Sandy Victims

Volunteers cut up fallen trees after Hurricane Sandy. (Photo Courtesy ICNA Relief)

The Islamic Circle of North America's charitable arm, ICNA Relief USA, has provided disaster response services in 21 disasters in 15 states over the last decade, including most recently during Hurricane Sandy. Charity is a central component of the Muslim faith, so when Sandy struck, 500 volunteers rushed to provide food, shelter and medical care for dozens of communities throughout New York and New Jersey.

ICNA Relief established food and basic supply distribution centers throughout the stricken states, including Somerset/Piscataway and Atlantic City in New Jersey and, in New York, Long Beach, Valley Stream and Far Rockaway on Long Island, Staten Island, and Brooklyn's Brighton Beach neighborhood. ICNA Relief volunteers gutted damaged homes, cut up fallen trees and handed out everything from diapers and heaters to hot meals and canned goods. They also set up free medical clinics in New York and New Jersey where survivors were able to receive free health check-ups and free over-the-counter medications.

Leaders from FEMA, officials from the White House's faith-based initiative, and elected officials including Mayor Langford of Atlantic City and Mayor Hameeduddin of Teaneck, NJ have applauded ICNA Relief's response to disasters and extraordinary work on the ground during times of crisis, including during Superstorm Sandy.

In addition to disaster services, ICNA Relief's 40 national chapters provide a number of charity services which are offered across the country to people of all faiths. These programs include women's shelters in seven states, food pantries in 10 states, hunger prevention programs, free family counseling services, disaster recovery and case management, and a national school supply drive that last year provided more than 20,000 backpacks filled with school supplies to needy children.

—Muna Howard

Haiti: More than half of US earthquake aid to Haiti went to US firms

Study finds Haiti aid largely went to US groups

More than half of US earthquake aid to Haiti went to US firms, organizations, study finds

By Trenton Daniel, Associated Press | Associated Press – 12 hrs ago

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  In this March 15, 2013 photo, Haiti's national flag flies outside parliament which was renovated by Chemonics International Inc., a for-profit international development company based …more 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- A new report on American aid to Haiti in the wake of that country's devastating earthquake finds much of the money went to U.S.-based companies and organizations.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research analyzed the $1.15 billion pledged after the January 2010 quake and found that the "vast majority" of the money it could follow went straight to U.S. companies or organizations, more than half in the Washington area alone.

Just 1 percent went directly to Haitian companies.

The report's authors said that a lack of transparency makes it hard to track all the money.

"It is possible to track who the primary recipients of USAID funds are, yet on what are these NGOs and contractors spending the money?" authors Jake Johnston and Alexander Main wrote. "What percent goes to overhead, to staff, vehicles, housing, etc.? What percent has actually been spent on the ground in Haiti?"

USAID did not respond to requests to comment on the report Friday.

The group has been a critic of U.S. foreign policy in the past, accusing the U.S. of a top-down approach to aid that does little to alleviate poverty in impoverished Haiti.

The report also finds that the biggest recipient of U.S. aid after the earthquake was Chemonics International Inc., a for-profit international development company based in Washington, D.C., that has more than 4,800 employees.

Aside from the World Bank and United Nations, Chemonics is the single largest recipient of USAID funds worldwide, having received more than $680 million in fiscal year 2012 alone. In Haiti, Chemonics has received more than the next three largest recipients since 2010, a total of $196 million, or 17 percent of the total amount.

In Haiti, Chemonics' mandate has involved setting up a temporary structure for Parliament, renovation of public plazas and repair of the country's main courthouse, as well as organizing televised debates for the 2011 presidential election.

Typically, major players such as Chemonics subcontract project work to smaller firms, some of them of them local.

USAID has awarded $27.8 million of the $1.15 billion to Haitian and Haitian-American firms since the quake, according to the agency's website.

The obstacles blocking Haitian businesses from the contracts are many. They're often not competitive because they may not be able to get the financing they need from local banks.

Smaller firms also lack the resources to prepare costly, time-consuming applications, nor do they have the big companies' track records in other parts of the world or the kinds of connections that help open the right doors.

The report said subcontract information should be made available and called for increasing direct contracts for Haitian entities.

http://news.yahoo.com/study-finds-haiti-aid-largely-202233442.html