Danny McAuliffe
The Community Foundation of North Florida is surveying charitable organizations to determine their needs for potential grants stemming from the more than $500,000 the foundation has raised since Hurricane Michael made landfall last October.
The foundation on Tuesday began asking nonprofits to participate in a questionnaire designed to inform the foundation’s future giving. The foundation wants to use the pool of money to help nonprofits that either suffered damage from Hurricane Michael or are assisting residents impacted by the Category 5 storm.
Foundation President and CEO Joy Watkins said the results of the survey will help the foundation “understand the gaps in support” in the 11 counties to which the foundation intends to deploy funding: Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor and Wakulla.
“We have seen the devastation across the Panhandle after Hurricane Michael, and we know there are many needs still remaining,” Watkins said.
Charitable giving in the months after Hurricane Michael lagged compared to other natural disasters, the Tampa Bay Times reported in January. Congress has yet to reach an agreement on a disaster-spending bill that would in part aid areas hit by the storm.
The 12-question web survey asks nonprofits for basic information, such as annual budget ranges and whether organizations already have received grants.
The foundation activated its “Disaster Relief Fund” following Hurricane Michael. Contributions to that fund, which total more than $500,000, “are exclusively designated for Hurricane Michael recovery efforts,” a foundation news release said.
