LRE replied on Sunday, August 22, 2010 10:29 AM
The response was not very good, in fact very disappointing. We did not very actively pursue the donors. We urged them to do the necessary help and distribution themselves, if possible, and donate if they could not diretly approach the needy themselves.
We took goods of appx. worth of Rs. 800,000 (+ packaging, labour, transportation, etc. appx. 30 thousand. One of the trucks’ rental was donated by the goods transport company and other rental we had to pay) So altogether our total expense was appx. Rs. 830,000. Most of it was collected from immediate family and friends without much persuasion. (Please also note due to our special efforts we were able to get special discount rates and/or additional products from suppliers, and practically arranged appx. Rs, 10 Lacs worth of food items/goods for only Rs. 8 Lacs.)
The only reason we asked general donors to help was to give those people a chance to participate who had a desire to help but had no direct means to reach the needy flood victims. We placed an ad/announcement on Friday, August 13, 2010 04:33 PM PST giving appx. departure time of Tuesday. From Friday till Monday AM we did not receive any donation or promise to donate, not even a single call or email to even inquire about it or suggest anything. It was very disappointing for us.
What? Total 4 contributors among this community of thousands?
(including some six thousand clients who are directly in touch with LRE):
On Monday PM a client Mr. Anwar from Lahore came to our office and donated Rs. 10,000 cash. And Monday night we received a call from Mr. Abid from Canada who had sent Rs. 40,250 through a bank which we received on Tuesday. That was quite a boost to our dwindling hope. And, on Tuesday Mr. Adeel from Lahore donated Rs. 10,000. So in all till our departure total donations from LRE website visitors/clients was only 10+40.25+10 = sixty thousand two hundred and fifty. Moreover, another brother Mr. Ashfaq from Saudi Arabia who had called late on Tuesday and wanted to help has sent Rs. 123,000 which we have not received yet but it is in the pipeline (bank's processing time). It may take a few days and we may have to redirect that to some relief organization in consultation with the donor. (We thank these brothers, and all other family members/friends who donated, from the depth of our hearts.)
So, to answer your question, in general the response to our appeal to our website community and LRE customers was unexpectedly disappointing and discouraging. Perhaps we did not give potential donors enough time or perhaps some people did not trust us. As far as the trust is concerned, it is a sign of our honesty that we stopped accepting donations once we achieved our immediate target. If we had any bad intentions we would have wanted more funds. In fact, we are worried about some surplus funds that we now have and are thinking either to refund to the donor so that they can donate to some other organization themselves or we donate it on their behalf and provide them the receipt. (BTW, we are fully accountable to any of the donors, anytime. Our Collection and Distribution has been as transparent as it can be.)
RE: LRE Flood Relief Tour Pictures
https://www.lahorerealesate.com/LRE_Flood_Relief_Tour_Pictures_Thursday_August_19_2010
Please note: Some people have objected that why we displayed banners on trucks, and why we showed pictures, etc.? Well there are three purposes:
1) To encourage others to do the same. (e.g. Several more trucks are being arranged at this point of time at the same facility where we did the packing etc., by people who we do not know directly but who saw us doing this humble effort.)
2) To satisfy the donors that their donations reached the needy
3) To give the people a first-hand witness account of the conditions of the flood affected areas.
Now, what are the best options?
We are not taking any more donations and now we are urging brothers to help the needy themselves or send their donations to their trustworthy organizations specializing in this kind of relief work, e.g. Pukar (Imran Khan + Jang Group), Army Flood Relief Fund, Eidhi Foundation, or choose from various other. Just make sure you can trust them. There are a lot of mushrooming small scale setups some of which may be honest and some may be corrupt. It is your duty to donate and it is also your duty to try your best to make sure your donations reach the needy. |
