Fundraising Drive

IDRF worked tirelessly to provide whatever help it could to alleviate the suffering in Pakistan and Kashmir brought about by the earthquake. The response of the donor community in Canada was overwhelming. Fundraising events were held from coast to coast and donations were received from organizations and individuals on daily basis.

IDRF counted and deposited $3,234,649 until November 24, 2005. Please click here to see the details. We have listed corporate donations and funds received from not-for-profit organizations but have not itemized donations from the individuals to protect their identities. The total figure also does not include on-line donations since the volume is huge and the bank has not been able to provide updated figures on daily basis. It also does not include pledges that are being followed and collected on daily basis.

A quick analysis shows that more than 50% of the donations have been received directly from individuals, about a quarter have been received from mosques and other non-for-profit organizations while the same proportion has been donated by corporate donors.

Relief Operations in Progress

IDRF traditionally focuses on development and reconstruction but in this case we could not ignore the colossal relief effort. We funded two major organizations that have field operations in the areas. Islamic Relief operatedin Kashmir and had distributed 6,178 tents, 52,939 quilts, 22,876 blankets, 17,153 food items, 4,704 plastic sheets, 8,719 kitchen sets, 5,308 mattresses and 5,349 jerrycans in the districts of Muzaffarabad, Bagh, Rawalakot, Dhirkot and in Forward Kahuta. The funds advanced by IDRF were used to procure the supplies locally. Rural Support Programmes Network operated in Kasmir as well as in the Northwest Frontier province of Pakistan. RSPN set up relief camps to distribute food, tents, blankets, medicines and other necessary items in Rawalakot and Bagh districts of Kashmir and in Maneshra, Garhi Habibullah, Batal, and Dadar areas in Northwest Frontier Province.

IDRF also shipped 7,500 tents with the retail value of 1.7 million dollars. These tents were purchased by Maplehurst Homes for IDRF and will serve up to 45,000 people. Details of the shipment can be found here.

Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) approved a project to look after total living needs of 6,000 families (about 40,000 people) for six months. It is a one million dollar project in which CIDA is funding 50%.

IDRF has also been working on a long-term reconstruction project with The Citizens Foundation.

NATO Flight Carries Relief Supplies

IDRF provided local logistics support to a relief flight chartered by NATO at the request of the Goverment of Pakistan. The plane loaded with much needed emergency supplies for the survivors of the South Asia earthquake left from Pearson International airport in Toronto for Islamabad in Pakistan. It carried goods that included donated wheelchairs, portable water purifiers, medicines, blankets and warm clothing.

Mr. Ghalib Iqbal, the Consul General of Pakistan in Toronto played a key role in arranging for the flight. He estimated the value of the shipment to be $2.5-$3.0 million. IDRF contributed towards the ground transportation and packing costs related to this urgently needed shipment.