Alameda County Activates Disaster Relief Fund for Typhoon Victims

By Alex Gronke/Patch

With calamity unfolding in the Philippines six days after a massive typhoon killed at least 4,400 people and left many thousands more without shelter or food, Alameda County has reactivated a 12-year-old system that allows county employees and community members to donate money toward disaster relief.

Alameda County’s Disaster Relief Fund was first launched after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and was also used to raise money following the South Asian Tsunami of 2004, Katrina and other natural disasters. The county’s 9,000 employees can donate cash, or up to five days of accrued vacation time.

According to a press release announcing the fund's reactivation, the county plans on sending all contributions to victims of the monster storm, which displaced an estimated 900,000 people and has overwhelmed the capacity of local authorities to provide food and tend to the injured. 

Cash donations in the form of a personal check can be made payable to the Alameda County Disaster Relief Fund, c/o the Auditor-Controller Agency, 1221 Oak Street, Room 238, Oakland CA 94612. Donation instructions and additional information are available at www.acgov.org.