Over $1 million has been raised to date
On December 26, 2004, an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale hit of the coast of Indonesia triggering a massive tsunami that resulted in a loss of over 280,000 lives and over 5 million people left homeless across 11 countries with Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand among the hardest hit. In response to this crisis, ICF partnered with the United Nations Foundation and other community foundations around the country to establish the UN Tsunami Disaster Relief Fund at ICF.

The UN Foundation matched ICF contributions on a 1:2 basis. Private contributions totaled over $512,000 for the UN Tsunami Disaster Relief Fund, yielding $737,744 including UNF’s matching contribution. An additional $300,000 has been granted to the Indonesian Red Cross Society for disaster relief efforts in Banda Aceh by the Sempra Energy International Community Investment Fund at ICF bringing ICF’s total tsunami related grantmaking to over $1 million. ICF’s “UN Tsunami Disaster Relief Fund” initiative brought together a unique collaboration of community foundations including the San Diego Foundation, Orange County Community Foundation, Kansas City Foundation, Community Foundation for Boulder County, the Central Minnesota Community Foundation as well as community foundations in Omaha, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Dallas, Tijuana and Chihuahua.

Support also came from several San Diego area companies including Accredited Home Lenders, Amylin Pharmaceutical, Hitachi Consumer Electronics, as well as Pacific Athletic Club, its parent company, Western Athletic Clubs, and their affiliate clubs along the west coast. Grassroots fundraising efforts were also undertaken in several San Diego area schools including several campuses of the Del Mar Union School District. At Torrey Hills School, for example, over $6,700 was raised by children K-6; another $2,100 was raised by the Del Mar Hills Academy; Carmel Del Mar School, $2075; and Del Mar Heights, $3,604.

100% of all monies raised from the UN Tsunami Disaster Relief Fund at ICF has been targeted to support relief efforts of UN agencies in those areas most affected by the tsunami: • ICF’s first UN Tsunami Fund grant of $200,000 went to support disaster relief efforts in Indonesia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, matched by an additional $100,000 grant from the UN Foundation. Total support resulted in $300,000. • A second grant of $300,000 from ICF, matched with $150,000 by the UN Foundation is in the process of being issued to support housing re-construction efforts in the most affected communities of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. This project, with an overall cost of $24 million is being overseen by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and is also supported by the Governments of Japan, Netherlands and a consortium of twelve major Mexican donors, including Fundación Azteca, that formed an alliance called “Alianza para Asia.” • Remaining campaign funds will go to support UNICEF’s immunization programs in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. According to Richard Kiy, “the collaborative efforts of the many community foundations, corporations and clubs that came together to support the UN’s tsunami disaster relief efforts demonstrates the power of thinking globally while acting locally.”