{"id":10465,"date":"2017-11-15T20:38:28","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T20:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=10465"},"modified":"2017-11-15T20:38:28","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T20:38:28","slug":"why-puerto-rico-is-getting-the-brunt-of-donor-fatigue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/why-puerto-rico-is-getting-the-brunt-of-donor-fatigue\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Puerto Rico is getting the brunt of ‘donor fatigue’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why Puerto Rico is getting the brunt of ‘donor fatigue’<\/h1>\n
\n \"File
\n Being one of a series of disasters made relief in Puerto Rico harder to come by after Hurricane Maria.
\n AP Photo\/Ramon Espinosa<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Samantha Penta<\/a>, University at Albany, State University of New York<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Recovering from disasters is never easy. When disasters pile up, it gets harder.<\/p>\n

On top of the inevitable competition for everything from the government\u2019s funding for recovery efforts to construction materials, donations for relief operations dry up as givers develop what\u2019s known as \u201cdonor fatigue<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

While studying disaster relief and community resilience, I\u2019ve learned that there are many factors shaping if and how much people give. I\u2019ve also found that those decisions can have important consequences for communities affected by disasters. And when multiple devastating events occur around the same time, the strain on donors and responders takes a big toll.<\/p>\n

Donor fatigue<\/h2>\n

When donors have already supported other relief efforts, they may feel that they either can\u2019t or don\u2019t need to give again. <\/p>\n

Today, that means many people who supported recovery efforts after Hurricane Harvey or perhaps Hurricane Irma are not pitching in<\/a> to help Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. <\/p>\n

While the American Red Cross<\/a>, a leading relief nonprofit, said it had raised US$350 million for Hurricane Harvey<\/a> recovery efforts within a month, donations a month after Irma totaled only $56.4 million<\/a>. Red Cross donations amounted to just $31.6 million a month after Maria<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s despite estimates that total losses for each of the three big hurricanes were staggering and ranked among the highest ever registered<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Texas alone suffered an estimated $150 billion in damage<\/a> from Harvey. Irma may have wrought as much as $100 billion<\/a> in damage, and for Puerto Rico, Maria\u2019s price tag may ultimately total some $95 billion<\/a>. <\/p>\n