Charities hope locals won’t be left out

Thursday, Sept. 20, 2001 | 11:16 a.m.

Officials of major Las Vegas charities that are receiving donations earmarked for New York City disaster relief say they don't expect a decrease in giving for local disaster relief.

"People in Las Vegas step up to the plate when they are needed," American Red Cross Southern Nevada Chapter Board President Dennis Macready said.

So far, generosity to help victims of terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania has not noticeably hurt local fund-raising drives, Garth Winckler, president of the United Way of Southern Nevada, said.

"Recently, Southwest Gas completed its United Way drive, and its employees gave $300,000, which is up 16 percent from last year," he said. "They know that money will go to help people in Las Vegas, while the money they give to help people elsewhere goes to services for those victims."

History has shown, however, that when Las Vegans give generously to help victims of disasters elsewhere, they sometimes forgo cash gifts to local coffers.

Following the 1994 Southern California earthquake, when Las Vegans gave generously to the local Red Cross specifically to help Los Angeles-area residents, the local chapter found itself in financial straits.

That year, the agency spent $143,000 eight months into a fiscal year in which $99,000 was budgeted for disaster relief. By June the Red Cross had spent more than double its budget.

In 1989, after Hurricane Hugo devastated portions of the East Coast and a major earthquake crippled San Francisco, Las Vegans funneled large sums of money through the Red Cross to help victims of those disasters.As a result, gifts to the Clark County chapter took a dip.

"Our very survival depends on local support," Macready said.