By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
The Diocese of Honolulu has contributed more than a quarter of a million dollars to the tsunami relief effort in the Indian Ocean. It is the largest amount collected by the diocese for any outside appeal, according to diocesan accountant Marvin Choi.
Parishes collected $208,981.22 to which the diocese will add $50,000, Choi said.
The largest parish “second collections” recorded by the diocesan business office were from St. Ann in Kaneohe and St. Elizabeth in Aiea, each which collected a little more than $25,000.
All the money is going to Catholic Relief Service (CRS), the U.S. bishops’ global aid agency.
In a news release, CRS said it is increasing its initial target of $25 million to $80 million over five to seven years to help survivors in India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia rebuild their lives, livelihoods and communities.
“While we continue to provide emergency aid to those in need, we are already moving into a longer-term recovery phase that will require millions more than originally estimated,” said CRS president Ken Hackett.
The $80 million will help to reestablish livelihoods, rebuild roads, bridges, public facilities and homes, and improve self-sufficiency.
Carol Ignacio, Catholic Relief Services’ representative in Hawaii, said she was “amazed” at the local response.
Besides raising money, Ignacio said, the disaster brought about an “awareness” of the vast extent of the Catholic aid effort around the world.
“Many people did not realize that we had such a vehicle for such instant response to international emergencies,” she said.
In an earlier CRS appeal for the people suffering in war-torn Sudan, Hawaii’s Catholics donated $33,089.
CRS has raised more than $65.9 million since the emergency began. Because of this generous response from the U.S. Catholic community and other supporters, CRS is no longer actively soliciting additional funds.
Caritas Internationalis, the international federation of Catholic humanitarian agencies that includes CRS, collectively has raised nearly $320 million to help tsunami-affected communities.