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More on Olbermann's rant against the feds:
MSNBC commentator got on his soapbox - Makes the Difference
A national commentator's rant about federal inaction on the storm-ravaged Cheyenne River reservation has turned into a fundraising bonanza for the tribe in north-central South Dakota.
As of Tuesday afternoon, an online fund established through the South Dakota Community Foundation had raised about $8,000 for the reservation, which had been paralyzed by a late January ice storm and blizzard that knocked out power and water to thousands.
That was before MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann got on his soapbox Tuesday evening.
In what amounted to a 30-second editorial, Olbermann chided the Senate Indian Affairs Committee for not helping to facilitate assistance to the tribe, then offered the South Dakota Community Foundation's Web site as a way for viewers to help.
The effect was immediate, Community Foundation president Bob Sutton said Thursday.
He was attending a function in Sioux Falls on Tuesday evening, he said. His Blackberry was set up to buzz him with an e-mail every time someone made an online donation to the Cheyenne River effort.
"Within the first 20 minutes, I had hundreds of e-mails on my Blackberry," he said. "It was unbelievable. I had to go out in the lobby and check it; I thought something was wrong because it just kept buzzing."
At the start of the day Thursday, the fund had grown to $220,000. By Thursday night, it was more than $250,000. In the 15 minutes he spent talking to a reporter, Sutton said 16 contributions came in, ranging from $10 to $500, from all over the country.
"We haven't done online fundraising here, so this is relatively new to us, a test case for us," Sutton said. "The result has been absolutely amazing."
His organization had been asked by the St. Paul-based Bush Foundation to help raise money for the Cheyenne River tribe. In turn, another Minnesota nonprofit, Native Americans in Philanthropy, offered to help the South Dakota foundation set up an online fundraising presence.
The Bush Foundation said it would match up to $25,000 raised, and the Northwest Area Foundation offered matching money up to $10,000. That means the Cheyenne River effort easily should clear $300,000, Sutton said.
The money is a godsend, Cheyenne River Chairman Joseph Brings Plenty said. More than 2,500 utility poles were felled by the Jan. 22 ice storm, putting 14,000 residents in the dark with no power, heat, gasoline or running water.
Though electricity has been restored to 95 percent of the reservation, the donated money is very much needed, Brings Plenty said. Many homes were damaged when old and decrepit water lines broke, ruining carpet and damaging floors and walls.
Donated money will go to fix those, the chairman said. It also will pay for permanent generators in shelters, for mobile trailers to be used as emergency command centers, and for blankets and pillows.
"It's definitely been a roller coaster ride. We're still in recovery at this point," Brings Plenty said. "But I really appreciate all the people who have stepped in. It's amazing. It actually started coming before any federal relief came in."
Brings Plenty said his tribe hopes it can persuade Congress to update an old and crumbling water system because, "without the proper water infrastructure, we can't build new houses and new businesses. This is something we sorely need."
The South Dakota Community Foundation collection will go to the end of the month, Sutton said. The check will be cut and presented to the tribe probably in early March, he added.
The Bush Foundation will provide oversight to ensure that the donations go to emergency and disaster relief, Sutton said.
"The tribe will decide how to spend that on emergency needs," he said. "But the Bush Foundation, their reporting requirements are very strong, very stringent. They'll make sure the funds are used for the purpose for which they are raised."
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CRST 2010 Disaster Relief (Read 658 times)
