Yes, it's true that million of dollars have been raised for earthquake and tsunami relief in Japan, but that money is still not nearly the amount that was raised for Haiti and other recent disasters.
In the first five days after the earthquake and ensuing tsunami in Japan last week, about $25 million dollars was raised to help relief in the disaster-stricken country. Sounds like a lot, right? Well check this out: Nearly $228 million dollars was raised five days following the earthquake in Haiti last January. And when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, nearly $248 million was rounded up by donors. So why is Japan getting less attention?
The director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, Patrick Rooney, thinks he has an idea of what is going on here. Simply put, he thinks Japan may be a victim of its own success. Japan is a very developed country with a rich population, so donors--wrongly or not--might think it doesn't need as much help as, say, Haiti.
Rooney also believes the media coverage of the tsunami may be to blame; coverage in the aftermath of the disaster did not focus as much on individual stories, as was the case in Haiti, which may also explain the lack of money flowing in. Whatever the case, there is still time to donate, so reach into your wallets if you haven't already!
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