Disaster Relief

The Pacific Northwest Kiwanis Foundation established a Disaster Relief Fund to provide immediate cash donations to Kiwanis Clubs in the Pacific Northwest District who are helping with major disaster relief efforts in their community. The Foundation will make every effort to respond quickly to an emergency. The requesting Club will identify the nature of the emergency, propose a plan for use of the requested funds, up to $1,000, and provide a final report to the Foundation. Contact the Pacific Northwest Kiwanis Foundation Secretary for more information.

Purpose

The purposes of the Pacific Northwest Kiwanis Foundation Disaster Relief Fund are: to raise and hold funds donated by individuals, communities and Kiwanis clubs and to distribute dedicated funds, as selected by the Board of the Pacific Northwest Kiwanis Foundation, to Kiwanis Clubs within the Pacific Northwest Kiwanis District whose communities have suffered a disaster and to assist financially and organizationally with projects to recover from disasters.

History

The Pacific Northwest Kiwanis Foundation Disaster Relief Fund was established in the fall of 2014 by the Foundation Board of Directors.

Budget

The Fund will be a “continuing fund” into which all donations dedicated to the Fund will be deposited. The Pacific Northwest Kiwanis Foundation will promote the development of the Fund through the Fundraising Committee. The Fund’s promotion, expenses for printing and associated costs, will be paid for from the Fundraising Committee’s budget.

Structure

The Committee shall consist of the Pacific Northwest Kiwanis Foundation President, Vice President, President-Elect, Secretary and one other Board member. The Committee will be selected and act as a standing committee of the Foundation. The Committee will write, as needed, policy and procedure guidelines for the Foundation regarding distribution of Disaster Relief Funds.

Policy information for the Pacific Northwest Kiwanis Foundation Disaster Relief Fund

The purpose of the Disaster Relief Fund is to provide immediate cash donations to Kiwanis Clubs in the Pacific Northwest District who are helping with disaster relief efforts in their community. The Pacific Northwest Foundation will make every effort to respond quickly after an emergency and give guidance to clubs regarding other resources of financial support.

What is the Disaster Relief Committee process for receiving disaster relief funds?

After a disaster strikes, a Pacific Northwest District Kiwanis Club can request from the Pacific Northwest Kiwanis Foundation a cash donation of up to $1,000 to support relief from that disaster. The request must be in the form of a letter or email, delivered to the Foundation Secretary, describing the details of the request, for what purpose the funds will be used, the Kiwanis Club’s action plan and requesting Kiwanis Club’s contact information included.

Upon receipt of the request the Foundation Secretary will distribute information related to the request to the Disaster Relief Committee for review and convene a conference call of the Committee. The Secretary will take notes and make a file for the request. After Committee review of the request, and if approved by Disaster Relief Committee majority, the Foundation Secretary will contact the Foundation Treasurer with contact information and details of the approved request. The Foundation Treasurer will deliver funds to the Kiwanis Club making the request. The funds will be used for the expressed purposes stated in the disaster relief request. A report of the expenditures requested shall be completed by the requesting Kiwanis Club and be on file with the Pacific Northwest Kiwanis Foundation. If the Disaster Relief request is not approved the President will write a letter to the requesting Kiwanis Club.

In addition, the Disaster Relief Committee of the Pacific Northwest Kiwanis Foundation will provide the requesting Kiwanis Club information on the location of other potential financial and material resources to assist with relief to include the Kiwanis International Foundation, The Kiwanis Foundation of Canada and more generally, corporate and foundation resources.

The Pacific Northwest Kiwanis Foundation will not charge an administrative fee for services of the Disaster Relief Committee. A report to the full Foundation Board of Directors will be given at the next Board meeting and be included in the minutes of the Board meeting.

^{Sources of information:
Kiwanis International Foundation Disaster Relief program
Cal-Neva-Hawaii Kiwanis District Foundation Disaster relief program}