Contact:
Nicole Brown
630-571-5466, ext. 386

For Immediate Release

LCIF Allocates Final US$2 Million, All US$15 Million Now Allocated for Tsunami Relief

OAK BROOK, Illinois, USA, January 15, 2007 — It’s been two years since coastal communities across South Asia were torn to pieces by the Tsunami on December 26, 2004, and Lions Clubs International Foundation has continued their successful rebuilding and relief work despite numerous obstacles.

Immediately following the disaster, Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) mobilized nearly US$15 million for tsunami victims in South Asia. The funds are enabling Lions to build homes, schools, hospitals, and orphanages in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and India despite political unrest, civil war, and government red tape across these countries. 

In just two years, LCIF has allocated all $15 million of the funds designated for tsunami relief. Every penny of every dollar donated went directly to grants to Lions in South Asia who oversaw every step of the relief efforts and advised LCIF on the needs in the affected areas. There are 160,000 Lions members in the region. Lions and LCIF are committed to long-term relief, proven by the fact that projects are still ongoing, long after other organizations have left the region.

Lions and LCIF have been the first in many areas to complete reconstruction projects because Lions are leaders in many of the communities and have been integral in working with the government. A total of 3,319 homes are under construction or have been completed in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia and India.

• In Sri Lanka, plans to build 1,432 homes are underway and 400 homes have been completed.  Next steps are to create professional development programs to help those displaced by the Tsunami become more financially independent and self-sufficient.
• In Indonesia, LCIF and local Lions have successfully established two Lions Villages in Aceh Province. The villages consist of 545 homes with electricity, village restrooms and six deep-water wells. Upcoming projects in Indonesia include economic revival activities in the Lions villages and additional housing for tsunami victims.
• In Thailand, 195 homes at two Lions villages are complete on two separate islands and construction of clinics, orphanages and water towers have begun. A new economic revival program is underway for the hundreds of people who are dependent on marine life. A new vocation center to re-establish fishing in the area will be completed in 2007.
• In India, Lions will build homes, community rehabilitation centers, potable water facilities, primary health centers, schools and an orphanage.

"I saw first hand the tsunami destruction in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Indonesia, and now I've seen the reconstruction first hand,” said Lions Clubs International President Jimmy Ross. “The Lions of South Asia have helped put lives back together and have given hope to thousands of people.”

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