The Salvation Army is running out supplies to help survivors of Hurricane Katrina, and fears “donor fatigue” could put relief efforts at risk, a spokesman for the U.S. aid agency said on Friday.
“We are running out of food, running out of supplies, and are finding it extremely difficult to find food and supplies,” Salvation Army spokesman Major George Hood told Reuters from Jackson, Miss.
“I don’t know how many more days of supplies we have, but it’s running out quickly, and the infrastructure is so strangled right now that it’s going to be difficult to get fresh supplies in here,” he said.
Hood said the Salvation Army was running the largest relief operation in its history to deal with “the most devastating natural disaster that we’ve seen, probably the worst in the history of this country.”
As of Friday morning, the Salvation Army said it had received $21 million in private donations, including $10 million from the Eli Lilly Foundation and $1 million from Wal-Mart. But Hood worried the giving could dry up and undermine relief efforts.
“I am extremely concerned that there will be donor fatigue,” he said. “This is the fifth or sixth major disaster in a span of 18 months, and we worry and we pray that the American public will continue to come through.”