RENGO Philanthropic Fund
Large-Scale Disaster Support for US Hurricane
16 September 2005
On September 13th at its 27th Central Executive Committee Meeting, RENGO endorsed a motion to donate US$10,000 from its philanthropic fund to the AFL-CIO, the American national center, for the massive natural disaster created by a hurricane which wreaked great damage in the United States. RENGO sent a telegram of sympathy to the AFL-CIO immediately after the disaster occurred and due to the tremendous damage that resulted, we decided to show our support based on disaster provisions in the philanthropic fund.
Hurricane Katrina, a large-scale hurricane that battered the area around New Orleans Louisiana on August 29th (local time), has been rumored to have taken anywhere from several thousand to ten thousand lives. The urban area surrounding New Orleans is home to approximately 485,000 residents and has suffered devastating damage after the local levee broke which has greatly hampered relief efforts to the many victims. It has also been estimated that all efforts to return the approximately 420,000 evacuees now spread across thirty US states to their homes will be unavoidably prolonged.
The AFL-CIO is calling on all of its affiliated organizations and union members to contribute to the relief fund in order to provide necessary aid to the hurricane victims.