Fund raising is getting better; aid process is announced - some funds available as early as September 15

By Pepper Parr

September 3, 2014

BURLINGTON, ON.

“We need money and we need it now” was the way local disaster fund chair Ron Foxcroft put it to an audience of about 50 people at the Central arena Wednesday morning.

Front of the Burlington Community Foundation web site explains what they are all about.

Foxcroft, chair of the Disaster Relief Fund that is raising the funds made it clear to anyone in the room that the only thing that mattered was raising the $2 million target. If we don’t raise those dollars there will not be any money to hand out.

Foxcroft, who is loquacious when there is a microphone in front of him, explained just how “simply unheard of” the flood was for the city. Toronto’s flood was 100 mm, Hurricane Hazel was 121 Burlington got 191 mm of rain in a couple of hours.

Mayor Goldring said there were now 3100 homes flooded to date as well as a number of businesses.

Foxcroft has set a high bar to get over; he wants the bulk of that $2 million target on the table by October 4th. He calls it his hundred day campaign which takes him to the middle of December but the bulk of that money is needed now.

Disaster Relief Fund chair Ron Foxcroft will drive the fund raising part of the program. Want to see the biggest part of the $2 million in the barn by October 4 – gives himself 100 days to complete the job.

Foxcroft estimates that the loss on the residential side is $83 million with an additional $10 million in commercial operations.

“Something between 10% and 20% of the residential damage is uninsured –which is $8 to $16 million dollars. “We aren’t going to be able to raise that much money but the target of $2 million to be raised locally is more than do-able and Foxcroft is setting out to make it happen.

We will be knocking on some hard doors in the days ahead.

Foxcroft reported that there was now $350,000 in donations. There is still a lot of money raised by small groups that is working its way to the Disaster Fund bank account that is being managed by the United Way.

Foxcroft said that something between 400 and 500 people are going to need help; he hoped there would be enough to help all of them.

The Rotary had 60 volunteers out at Ribfest. Their official number has not been released but the number of $40,000 plus was mentioned.
Colleen Mulholland, Rick Goldring and Mike Wallace sent the $1000 Exgratia grant they received from the Region along to the disaster fund. Foxcroft passed along the $20 he won in a Tiger Cats, Argonauts bet – if that target is to be met Foxcroft is going to have to make bigger bets.
Some people found themselves wondering why nothing was happening. Foxcroft explained that he was moving quickly on the raising of funds locally. Mayor Goldring added that the Burlington applications are moving at the “speed of light” compared to what other municipalities have experienced in the past.

The Disaster Relief Committee is not just about raising money – it is about distributing funds to people who need the help.
There will be two aid packages.

One with an upper limit of $1000 to cover immediate essential such as paying for accommodation because people cannot live in their homes.

Some people lost all their clothing. This aid package is for immediate needs.

Funds for this $1000 aid package will be available as early as September 15.

Burlington Community Foundation president Colleen Mulholland has been at the wheel of the organizational effort to get a process in place that will raise funds and then distribute those funds – soon.

The second package is for those people who were uninsured or under-insured and is quite a bit more complex and will require more paper work “and it will” explained BCF president Colleen Mulholland “take more time”

“There are procedures and protocols within the ODRAP program that we are going to comply with” she said. “We are not going to get caught off side on this.”

The forms and procedures for both aid packages will be on the BCF web site.

The level of desperation for some was evident when a man from the audience said he had no insurance – this is the fourth flood we have experienced in a year and a half. “What are we supposed to do” he said, “it makes you want to cry”.

Indeed it does – and on Wednesday morning there were no hard answers for anyone. There weren’t even promises – there were processes.
This is not going to be easy for anyone. The first part is to raise funds locally and then press the province to come through with what the existing legislation does permit. Burlington just has to convince the bureaucrats that we need their help.

The information people will need, will be on the Burlington Community web site September 4th.