NPO CARE Loses Funding

Nonprofit organization CARE has recently lost all of its government funding. CARE, which aims to fight global poverty, works alongside poor women whom they equip with resources to educate their family members and communities to escape poverty.

            Like most nonprofit organizations, or NPOs, CARE receives 90% of its funding from donations from private persons; however, a small part of their budget comes from taxpayer dollars. Generally, state-run health and human service charities receive the largest amount of government funding. In the case of CARE that has concentrated its efforts recently in Haiti, they fall outside of the group of charities that work toward bettering the problems here in the United States and have seen their entire government funding cut.

            CARE is one of the oldest NPOs in the nation having been created in 1945 to deliver aid to survivors of World War II. CARE seeks to deliver relief in emergencies and provide economic opportunity. CARE began its work with Haiti in 1954 to help those affected by Hurricane Hazel. However, since October, CARE has been working to help those affected by several tropical storms that hit the country this past summer. Tropical storms have damaged access to drinking water in many regions of Haiti and have affected the personal hygiene of many Haitian residents. On Oct. 8, CARE delivered to 1,500 families hygiene kits that included soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, detergent and chlorine tablets to disinfect water.

            The flood-ravaged regions of Haiti are in a severe crisis because the majority of municipal and community drinking water sources have been destroyed by storms. Also, the muddy terrain has left residents stranded in regions where there is no clean water sources. Haitian residents are left to drink or use contaminated water for cleaning and hygienic needs. The contaminated waters contain water-borne diseases that can lead to infections and have left many Haitians dead or near death.

            CARE volunteers have targeted the most vulnerable groups of people in Haiti including children, pregnant women, single mothers, handicapped people and those affected by HIV/AIDS to educate Haitians on good hygiene practices as well as to distribute water purification tablets. CARE is concerned with passing out water purification tablets to many Haitians until they are educated on their use. CARE worries that tablets may be sold on local markets or destroyed if not put in the hands of the informed. CARE needs more money to expand their distribution services and has turned to the Internet to drum up resources. On the CARE Web site, those wishing to donate to the cause will be matched by private donors dollar for dollar.