Building Bridges: Flood Relief Campaign in the United States Jiri Barta - Nadace VIACedar Rapids, Iowa - June 2003

„Building Bridges: Flood Relief Campaign in

the United States“VIA FoundationCzech Republic

Building Bridges: Flood Relief Campaign in the United States Jiri Barta - Nadace VIACedar Rapids, Iowa - June 2003

August 2002 - the largest flood in the past 500 years

Building Bridges: Flood Relief Campaign in the United States Jiri Barta - Nadace VIACedar Rapids, Iowa - June 2003

August 12 - 14, 2002

• over 500 hundred towns and villages flooded - from Pilsen and Cesky Krumlov to Usti nad Labem

• affected 6 of 14 districts in the CR - 250,000 people evacuated

• over 1100 cultural monuments badly damaged

• thousands of families lost homes and possessions

• hundreds schools damaged

• 8,000 m3 of books flooded and put in freezers

• infrustructure seriously damaged

• estimated damage CZK 70,000 billion

Building Bridges: Flood Relief Campaign in the United States Jiri Barta - Nadace VIACedar Rapids, Iowa - June 2003

Flood images, August 2002

Building Bridges: Flood Relief Campaign in the United States Jiri Barta - Nadace VIACedar Rapids, Iowa - June 2003

• thousands of volunteers helping

• public radio announcements

• tens of thousands people contribute to flood relief accounts

• hundreds of companies join the flood relief efforts

• several hundreds of million CZK collected from private sources

• additional tens of millions CZK donated from abroad by individuals, companies and foundations

Wave of solidarity

Building Bridges: Flood Relief Campaign in the United States Jiri Barta - Nadace VIACedar Rapids, Iowa - June 2003

VIA Foundation’s response

Cultural Heritage Renovation Fund

Immediate Flood Relief and Renewal Fund

• partnership with the People in Need Foundation

• partnership with the Foundation for a Civil Society

• partnership with Czech - American and US organizations

• partnership with the corporate sector

Building Bridges: Flood Relief Campaign in the United States Jiri Barta - Nadace VIACedar Rapids, Iowa - June 2003

Major partners we worked with in the United States

CSA Fraternal Life, ChicagoCzechoslovak American Congress of Chicago Czech Center, New YorkCzech Tourist Authority, USAFriends of VIA, PittsburghPittsburgh SVU ChapterSilicon Valley Community Foundation, CaliforniaThe Foundation for a Civil Society, New YorkYoung Presidents’ Organization International Chapter

CORPORATE PARTNERSCzech Airlines, New YorkCitibankLobkowicz Travel Services

Building Bridges: Flood Relief Campaign in the United States Jiri Barta - Nadace VIACedar Rapids, Iowa - June 2003

What we have done

• www.floods.cz - info, US tax deductions and on-line giving • Madeleine Albright, Dominik Hasek and Milos Forman backed up our efforts • mailings via email - VIA and FCS mailing lists• distributed info via CSA Fraternal Life Journal and other partner organizations• distributed info via Czech Center, New York web pages • placed an ad in New York Times - September• organized benefit auction in Prague - October• were seeking corporate support

Building Bridges: Flood Relief Campaign in the United States Jiri Barta - Nadace VIACedar Rapids, Iowa - June 2003

Building Bridges: Flood Relief Campaign in the United States Jiri Barta - Nadace VIACedar Rapids, Iowa - June 2003

What we have achieved

• in less than 4 months, we received support from over 450 mostly US individuals and several US Foundations

• raised contributions from 3 major companies in the CR - Pilsner Urquell and its 1,700 employees, Citibank and Unilever

• thanks to many US and Czech partners and volunteer help of dozens individuals raised by December 2002 close to CZK 17 million, i.e. USD 560,000

• USD 250,000 from the US donors

Building Bridges: Flood Relief Campaign in the United States Jiri Barta - Nadace VIACedar Rapids, Iowa - June 2003

Through the generosity of our donors and the dedicated help of many partners, by the end of 2002, we succeeded in raising CZK 16 694 057 for flood relief activities of which:

CZK 6,015,419 (USD 200,000)for Cultural Heritage Renovation Fund to help save valuable cultural heritage monuments and institutions damaged in the flooding

CZK 3,751,544 (USD 125,000) for Immediate Flood Relief and Renewal Fund to aid people afflicted by the flood

CZK 6,927,094 (USD 230,000)for specified aid to people and regions afflicted by the flood – designated donations from corporate donors

What we have achieved

Building Bridges: Flood Relief Campaign in the United States Jiri Barta - Nadace VIACedar Rapids, Iowa - June 2003

• Cultural Heritage Renovation Fund

Examples of supported projects

Kampa Museum Prague City Library

Theater on Dlouha

Building Bridges: Flood Relief Campaign in the United States Jiri Barta - Nadace VIACedar Rapids, Iowa - June 2003

Veltrusy Castle

We have supported more than 70 Cultural Heritage Renovation Projects