Pitt lags behind in Ebola donations

After Hurricane Sandy, the Haitian earthquake and Hurricane Katrina razed cities and towns years ago, donations poured in to help the survivors.

Businesses across the nation pledged roughly $141 million to support the victims of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, almost $300 million for the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in 2011, and more than $147 million for the 2010 Haitian earthquake, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Add to that about $2.2 billion raised by the Red Cross. 

The reaction to the Ebola outbreak is quite the opposite. Donations on the same scale might be seen as a trickle rather than a torrent. So far, U.S. businesses have donated roughly $26 million to the Ebola cause. 

Even though the Ebola virus has ravaged countries in West Africa, such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, many people haven’t been motivated to donate to help stop the spread of the disease.

Experts in philanthropy say it’s harder to raise money for causes where the outcome for the victims may be bleak.  

Many members of the Pitt community haven’t donated to stop the deadly virus.

Hannah Robinson, the president of Alpha Phi Omega, a large service fraternity on campus, said that the organization “has not done direct fundraising for Ebola.”

Several student organizations, including the Student Government Board and the Newman Club, a Christian student group, refused to comment on their donations.

Masaki Okazawa, a senior majoring in biology and student leader in Global Ties, a student organization that facilitates cross-cultural communication, said he blamed the media for not publicizing how people could help.

“It came as a surprise to me when I read [your] email and it said there were ways to donate to Ebola,” Okazawa said. “It wasn’t mentioned at all in the media. It would be something that you would have to look out for yourself.”

Allison Hydzik, a manager of media relations at Pitt, couldn’t find specific information on what UPMC has done to help stop the outbreak in Africa but said UPMC supports Global Links, a Pittsburgh-based medical relief and development organization. 

Eric Andrae, a campus pastor at First Trinity Lutheran Church, said his parish hasn’t raised money to fight Ebola because there are other causes closer to the parish.

“We are not an especially large church or student group,” Andrae said. “With limited resources, what can we focus on? Who are our neighbors?”

Andrae said that the Ebola outbreak is not the only cause in need of donations.

“I know there are so many worthy causes out there,” Andrae said. “On an individual level and a collective level, you have to be selective.”

While donation rates still falter beside other causes, some Pittsburgh groups and organizations have made helping Ebola victims a priority. 

Brother’s Brother Foundation in Northside, a charity that focuses on medical and educational needs, sent multiple 40-foot container shipments of gloves, face masks and hospital gowns to a hospital in Sierra Leone this summer. TTo contribute to Ebola efforts, the United Nations Foundation is running an online Ebola response fundraiser where people can select the amount they would like to donate and if they would like it to be an automatic, reoccurring donation.

Nicole Coleman, a business faculty member, researched the lack of donations to the Ebola cause. 

The first reason is that people don’t feel they can make a difference.

“If you contract it, you have a slim likelihood of making it through,” Coleman said. “The donations of hazmat suits and Lysol [are] about protecting people who haven’t gotten it yet, rather than people who have contracted it.”

Coleman said that the tsunami in Haiti was an easier cause to donate to because people knew how they could make a difference.

“After the Haiti earthquake, we needed to build a tent so people [didn’t] get rained on,” Coleman said.

The second reason is because the disease frightens them.

“What causes people to donate is an emotional connection,” Coleman said. “If we are feeling afraid, it is difficult to have a sympathetic response. Those who have the disease and that are ill make us more afraid, and we feel helpless.”