Qatar Katrina Fund

DELINDA C. HANLEY

AMBASSADOR NASSER Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa of Qatar said goodbye to diplomats, friends and heads of NGOs at a May 3 farewell reception at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, DC.

Hurricane Katrina victims will long remember the ambassador, the emir he served, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and their country, Qatar, for giving them hope for the future. TV audiences in Qatar, a small nation of 250,000 citizens in the Arabian Gulf, saw the devastation caused by the hurricane in the Gulf Coast, 8,000 miles away, and pledged $100 million in aid.

The Qatari diplomat visited the Gulf Coast several times to see what was needed to help rebuild devastated lives. He determined that funds given directly to local organizations for well-defined projects would be most effective. As a result the Qatar Katrina Fund dispensed $60 million in grants to pay for health care, housing and scholarships in New Orleans, LA and an additional $40 million to help rebuild Pass Christian, MI.

Ambassador Al Khalifa began his diplomatic career in 1977 as information attaché at Qatar's Embassy in Washington, DC, having earned a B.A. in political science from Western Michigan University and an M.A. in international public policy from Johns Hopkins University. He also was a visiting fellow at Princeton University.

The ambassador returns to London, where he served as ambassador prior to his U.S. appointment, to pursue an LLM in international law from City University.

The diplomat from Doha with a big heart leaves behind American friends across the country-most especially in the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast.

New Orleans' Muslims are living out the following hadith: "A believer is like a brick for another believer, the one supporting the other."

This is what Tulane University medical student Abdul Mannan Khan envisaged when he drew up a detailed proposal listing all of the area's masjids that had been devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. He sent this proposal for revitalizing the Greater New Orleans Muslim community to all Muslim embassies in Washington, DC. However, only Qatar responded with an offer of $1.7 million grant to repair two schools and five mosques and a desire to work closely with the Jefferson Muslim Association of Greater New Orleans. Immediately after Katrina and Rita, Qatar's emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, announced a $100 million donation (Qatar Katrina Fund) to bring relief to the stricken residents.

This aid has gone to the Xavier University School of Pharmacy, toward treatment at the Children's Hospital, and to help Tulane University serve a burgeoning population of uninsured patients. Habitat for Humanity's "Operation Home Delivery" received $22 million to build 293 homes in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The Children's Hospital of New Orleans received more than $5.3 million for repair, renovation, expansion, and equipment for two Kids First Clinics, and to pay the medical bills of uninsured child victims. Louisiana State ($3.3 million), Loyola ($1.4 million), Tulane ($10 million), and Xavier ($5 million) universities received funds to provide students with tuition as well as room and board during the next four years.

In fact, Ambassador Nasser bin Hamad M. Al-Khalifa personally led the effort to identify recipients and select local organizations to manage and distribute the funds to make sure that they would reach the right people. He was advised on potential recipients by the governors and congressional delegations from the most-affected states, the mayors of major cities, an advisory committee, and other community leaders.

Thus, when he visited the area in mid-February, he stopped at Masjid Yaseen, which is being restored with Qatari support. Later, addressing a reception held in his honor, Al-Khalifa outlined his country's efforts to alleviate the victims' troubles, stressing that the aid should reach the really deserving people. He reminded them that Qatar has always stepped forward to do its humanitarian duties, be it the Southeast Asian tsunami or the Pakistani earthquake, and stated that the Katrina aid was purely humanitarian and apolitical.

Dr. Abdul Hafeez Khan of the Jefferson Muslim Association stated that it was commendable that while the community had contacted the embassies, only Ambassador Al-Khalifa had responded-and so generously. He reiterated that the Muslims, like many of their fellow citizens, are proud to be Louisianans and had decided to rebuild New Orleans, which is their home and has given them so much. He lauded Qatar's generosity toward all of the people affected.

The Greater New Orleans masjids are united under the Jefferson Muslim Association. The pre-Katrina Muslim population of 10,000 has shrunk to 7,000 people. However, the community is rebuilding, restoring, and repairing itself with funds that its members have raised on their own. The Qatari donation will help them complete these works. Despite their efforts, rebuilding is proceeding slowly. This is true of the city as a whole, because the paucity of building materials and qualified workers is everywhere.

Edmund J. Munz, mayor of the thriving New Orleans suburb of Kenner, issued a proclamation praising Al-Khalifa's generosity and thoughtfulness. Emile Lafourcade, his public relations director, presented it on the mayor's behalf, saying that New Orleans will arise just as it has done before, being reborn after fires and floods. Lafourcade told "Islamic Horizons" that the area's pace of reconstruction was slow because the hurricanes had devastated an area 500 miles wide and 100 miles long, from Lake Charles, LA, to Mobile, AL. He said that even now, one often needs to drive 100 miles or more to get building materials and specialized labor. Although the people of Greater New Orleans are determined to rebuild, said Lafourcade, no one can expect to restore normalcy overnight; it will take time.

New Orleans had some 500,000 people before Katrina struck; now it is down to 200,000 people. The number of people, including Muslims, living in the city is expected to grow over the next five years.

The New Orleans community hopes to expand the Masjid Abu-Bakr Al-Siddiq, the city's only purpose-built mosque, for now there are so many additional congregants that two Friday prayer services have to be held. However, its dream is to build the estimated $8.5 million Muslim Foundation on a 6-acre lot that it had acquired before Katrina. The campus will include a mosque, a school, a community center, and a funeral home. In fact, the ground-breaking ceremony had been performed before Katrina struck. Today, the project is in jeopardy. Donations may be sent to: Masjid Abu-Bakr Al-Siddiq, 4425 David Drive, Metairie, LA 77003-3428.

OLGA PIERCE

After Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans is in the midst of a rebirth -- but advocates are struggling to make it a good place to give birth.

The destruction of the city's health infrastructure, combined with a spike in the proportion of citizens who are uninsured, has made it harder than ever for expecting mothers to get the care they need.

On an average week in Louisiana, 117 babies are born to mothers who receive inadequate prenatal care, 137 babies are born with low birth weights, and 12 die before their first birthday, according to the March of Dimes.

Hospitals are reporting an increase of mothers in labor who come to emergency rooms without having received any prenatal care at all -- the result of an increasingly poor, uninsured, unemployed and transient population, said David Ward, president and chief executive officer of Daughters of Charity Services in New Orleans, a Catholic service organization.

The lack of prenatal and well-baby services is "one of the absolute top concerns of healthcare in this region," Ward told United Press International.

The devastation of facilities and ongoing staffing issues mean that rebuilding efforts are progressing at a snail's pace, he added.

To help meet those needs, Daughters of Charity Services has teamed up with the March of Dimes, other community groups and unlikely partners in the Arab state of Qatar to provide mobile services to pregnant women and babies.

After national fundraising by the March of Dimes raised $2 million, and $3 million more arrived from the Amir of Qatar's Katrina fund, the groups announced Wednesday they are launching a program that will send three mobile healthcare vehicles to areas in need of prenatal services.

The vehicles are like small doctor's offices with private exam areas, waiting areas, nurses' station and an area to draw blood. They are equipped with fetal monitors, ultrasound, other equipment and a backup generator.

Once operational, the groups predict they will provide 15,000 visits over the next three years.

"Not having services contributes to risky and premature birth outcomes," said Jennifer Howse, national president of the March of Dimes. "We are extremely concerned."

Even before the hurricane struck in 2005, Louisiana's premature birth rate was well above the national average and increasing fast, she said. The state also had above-average rates of uninsured, obesity and smoking. Health advocates fear that in the stressful post-Katrina landscape, the problem will grow worse.

"We think there will be many, many moms and families coming for services," she told UPI. "This is a happy day for us."

The mobile program offers hope to expecting mothers living in the city, Suzette Wilkinson told UPI. Wilkinson moved to the United States from Panama four years ago when she married her husband.

Like many mothers in Louisiana, Wilkinson, who is due in July, cannot afford private health insurance. Because she is not a U.S. citizen, she is also ineligible for charity hospital services or Medicaid.

"I found it really hard to find prenatal care for myself," she said, and many other women she knows face the same problem.

That lack of care was especially problematic when she had two difficult pregnancies that ended in miscarriage, she said. "I had an ectopic pregnancy, but when I went to the hospital I was treated like I was acting up even though I was bleeding to death."

When her 2-year-old son was born, she was able to get the care she needed and he was born healthy, Wilkinson said, and she looks forward to getting more compassionate care from the Daughters of Charity who will be staffing the mobile care units.

Citizenship is not the only barrier to prenatal care, she added. "Really it's hard enough even if you're a citizen.

"I think our little babies shouldn't suffer because their parents can't afford insurance. I'd really like other moms to have the opportunity to get good care and have happy, healthy children."

NEW ORLEANS, March 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The March of Dimes unveiled the first of three "Mom and Baby Mobile Health Centers" that will bring much-needed medical care to pregnant women, new mothers, and babies in areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

The Mobile Health Centers were paid for with $3 million from the $100 million Qatar Katrina Fund, established by the Amir of Qatar, H.H. Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani to provide assistance after the storm. The centers will be staffed by the Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans and partners of the Partnership for Access to Health. This collaboration is unprecedented and unique for the New Orleans region and will be a model for others.

More information can be found online at http://www.marchofdimes.com/aboutus/22663_24140.asp .

"In the post-hurricane era, building bridges between organizations is vital to restoring basic services, such as health care," said Greg Gumbel, a New Orleans native and honorary chairman of the March of Dimes Hurricane Relief Fund.

The March of Dimes worked with the Qatar Katrina Fund to design this project. Qatar's Ambassador to the United States, H.E. Nasser Bin Hamad Al- Khalifa, said he identified "partners who would bring innovative solutions to the enormous problems caused by Hurricane Katrina." He added: "These Mobile Health Centers will provide an immediate improvement in Louisiana's quality of life. Providing mothers and babies easy access to health care is an important component of rebuilding communities. The results will be felt for generations."

Even before the hurricanes, Louisiana's preterm birth rate was 25 percent above the nation's. Today, local health services remain overwhelmed and unable to meet the needs of an increasingly poor and uninsured population. Pregnant women are arriving in emergency rooms in labor, without having had any prenatal care, doctors and nurses say. Hospitals have seen an increase in premature and low birth weight babies.

Inside, the mobile centers look like a healthcare provider's office. The handicap accessible centers have bilingual staff and will provide about 15,000 visits in three years to New Orleans, and other areas without adequate maternal and infant health services.

The March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For Spanish language information visit nacersano.org.

LEIGH COLEMAN

Qatar's Ambassador to the United States H.E. Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa presented a $5 million gift Wednesday to the Pass Christian Boys and Girls Clubs.

Pass Christian was under 30 feet of water during Katrina, which destroyed 80 percent of the city, including the Boys and Girls Clubs. The Qatar donation will be used to build a new center for the club.

The Pass Christian Boys and Girls Clubs hosted the new site dedication ceremony at Trinity Episcopal Church and presented cards and gifts of appreciation to the ambassador. Pass Christian Mayor Chipper McDermott presented the ambassador with a key to the city.

Afterward, Ambassador Al-Khalifa toured the site behind the church where the new center will be built.

The money presented to the club is part of the Qatar Katrina Fund and is included in a $100 million gift to those affected by the hurricane in Mississippi and Louisiana.

"We know that the true legacy of the gift will last generations," said Al- Khalifa. "Our intention was to meet emergency needs and express friendship and compassion."

The donation will build a center that will be used communitywide and is scheduled to be finished by October 2008. The new project will have a K-8 school, parks, conference and meeting rooms, childhood development programs, and more space for the club, which has a long waiting list for services because of limited space in its temporary locations.

"This gift is truly life-altering because this new building project will serve the entire community, everyone will be able to use the property," said Sam Burke, director of club development.

The Qatar Katrina Fund was announced in Washington, D.C., in September 2005. The ambassador has traveled the areas hit hardest by the storm and has presented the monetary gifts to projects supported by the people of the Arabian gulf state.

Boys and Girls Clubs, March of Dimes Mobile Units, Children's Hospital in New Orleans, and Habitat for Humanity are some of the beneficiaries of the Qatar fund.

"I want to help these young people because within this group there are future lawyers and doctors and we need to help them with their future," Al-Khalifa said.

Qatar's ambassador to the United States presented $5 million Wednesday to the Pass Christian Boys and Girls Clubs, allowing them to build a new center to replace the one that was demolished by Hurricane Katrina.

"We know that the true legacy of the gift will last generations," said Qatar Ambassador H.E. Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa. "Our intention was to meet emergency needs and express friendship and compassion."

Pass Christian was under 30 feet of water during the Aug. 29, 2005 storm, which destroyed 80 percent of the city.

Pass Christian Mayor Chipper McDermott presented the ambassador with a key to the city. Afterward Ambassador Al-Khalifa toured the site behind the church where the new center will be built.

The money presented to the club is part of the Qatar Katrina Fund and is included in a $100 million gift to those affected by Katrina in Mississippi and Louisiana.

The funds from Qatar will build a center that will be used community-wide and is scheduled for completion by October of 2008. The new project will include a K-8 school, parks, conference and meeting rooms, childhood development programs and more space for the club.

"This gift is truly life-altering because this new building project will serve the entire community, everyone will be able to use the property," said Sam Burke, director of club development.

The Qatar Katrina Fund was announced in Washington D.C. in September 2005. The ambassador has traveled the areas hit hardest by the storm. Boys and Girls Clubs, March of Dimes Mobile Units, Childrens Hospital in New Orleans and Habitat for Humanity are some of the beneficiaries of the Qatar fund.

BRAD KESSIE

Lucimarian Roberts has been a longtime supporter of the Pass Christian Boys and Girls Club. At a Wednesday reception for Qatar's ambassador, Roberts told the crowd, "It only takes a spark to get a fire going."

The Pass Christian Boys and Girls Club got that spark when Qatar sent five million dollars to the children in that unit. Sue Reed heads up Harrison County's Boys and Girls Club chapters.

"It is so meaningful to us," she told the ambassador. "I just want you to understand how meaningful and wonderful this is. Thank you so very much."

Katrina flattened the after school home for dozens of Pass Christian children. When leaders in Qatar heard about the catastrophe, they made their sizable contribution. Mayor Chipper McDermott was flanked by aldermen when he presented a plaque to Ambassador Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa.

"We thank you from the bottom of our hearts," McDermott said to the ambassador.

Just like that, the spark was ignited.

For Jasmine Bradley, that means a new place to learn and grow is about to be built.

"It makes us happy because we're finally going to have people noticing us and we get to enjoy things instead of being all cramped up in a cafeteria," the Boys and Girls Club member said.

The children of Pass Christian hosted the reception so Qatar's ambassador could see their joy as a spark built into a fire.

"I'm very happy that life is coming back," Ambasssador Al-Khalifa said.

Before the ceremony, he got a quick look at the Church Avenue site where his money will be spent. That site is right across the street from Trinity Church. In two years, land that was the old Pass Christian High School will become the new Pass Christian Boys and Girls Club. Qatar's five million dollar gift, plus $500,000 from Disney will cover the club's construction costs.

As Ms. Roberts looked at architects designs, she smiled.

She said, "It's just beautiful. I just can't believe that it's happening."

It's happening because Pass Christian needed a spark. And the people of Qatar wanted Pass children to have a place where they could smile again. Because the funding is in place, the Pass Christian unit will be the first Boys and Girls club rebuilt in Harrison County.

Qatar's ambassador also stopped by Memorial Hospital. His country sent $10 million dollars to the hospital, so uninsured hurricane victims wouldn't have to pay their bills. One of those patients was Coshandra Rice. The Delisle woman was invited to the Memorial Hospital reception to meet Ambassador Al-Khalifa. After a finger injury, and a battle with the flu, Rice feared what medical bills would do to her finances. Qatar's gift saved the day.

"I thanked the Lord and I cried," she said. "I couldn't believe that somebody would do that for me. It was a blessing."

Memorial Hospital board of trustees president Myrtis Franke told the ambassador, "Your gift is beyond words."

Ambassador Al-Khalifa said he was pleased his tiny community could help in a small way. The independent state in the Southern Arabian Gulf sent a total of $100 million to help with health, housing and education in the region where Hurricane Katrina did the most damage.

JOHN POPE

As he sat watching TV reports of how Hurricane Katrina had devastated the Gulf Coast, Qatar's ambassador to the United States got a phone call from his boss, the country's foreign minister, who also was transfixed, as was the country's ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.

The three men agreed they had to do something to help the stricken region.

Within minutes, they decided Qatar would give $100 million in grants to organizations working in the Katrina zone. They ultimately focused their grants on three areas: education, health and housing.

Even though both men were in the oil-rich Middle Eastern kingdom, thousands of miles from the August 2005 catastrophe, they felt they had no choice, Ambassador Nasser bin Hamad al-Khalifa said Tuesday in New Orleans.

"We are connected," he said. "Anything that happens anywhere, you can't say you don't know anything about it. If you're watching it, you want to help."

Al-Khalifa was in New Orleans on Tuesday to see how Qatar's grants are being used. Among his stops were a Tulane University clinic in Covenant House, which received $5 million, and Xavier University, which was given $12.5 million to expand the building housing its College of Pharmacy. Xavier received an additional $5 million for scholarships to be given to Katrina victims.

"So far, we are 90 percent satisfied," he said during lunch at The Times-Picayune, explaining that only a few recipients, which he didn't name, weren't living up their obligation to ensure that every penny helps people whose lives had been wrecked by Katrina.

"It's important that the gifts be directed as much as possible to Katrina victims," al-Khalifa said. "If money isn't being used to benefit the victims, we can give it to somebody who's doing good work."

Such rigor was an important part of the selection process, and recipients respected it, said Dr. Karen DeSalvo, the Tulane clinic's executive director.

"There were six months of applications, back and forth," she said.

But, DeSalvo said, the reward was worth it. With the grant the clinic was able to expand the second floor of its building in the Covenant House complex and hire five people, including a doctor and a social worker. The money from Qatar also will pay for a mobile unit that will be used for cancer screenings and Pap smears at health fairs and in communities where medical care is difficult to come by.

When al-Khalifa visited the clinic Tuesday morning, "he came, he saw, he seemed happy," DeSalvo said.

"This is another great example of how countries, the private sector and foundations have stepped up to the plate," she said. "They're really caring people, and they really understand the issues."

On the drawing board

At Xavier, al-Khalifa and his entourage saw a three-dimensional model of the six-story extension to the pharmacy building that his country's money will help build. Construction should start by summer and take 14 months, said Marion Bracy, Xavier's vice president for facilities planning.

The Qatar grant will provide about 62 percent of the structure's $20 million cost, he said.

Pharmacy Dean Wayne Harris took pains to point out that the expansion, which will house classrooms, laboratories and space for clinical trials, isn't intended to let the college admit more students. Rather, he said, it is designed to provide room for the booming enrollment, which has expanded by about 35 percent from 473 in 2001 to 638.

Plans for the addition had been in the works for five years, he said, but Xavier had to delay the project to repair damage caused by Katrina and the ensuing flood.

Al-Khalifa's visit to Xavier on Tuesday went on as scheduled even though the university had no electricity in the wake of the early-morning tornado. To provide as much light as possible, the presentation was moved to the atrium of the Norman C. Francis Science Annex.

Creating jobs

As al-Khalifa gazed at the model by architect Ron Blitch, he said he was especially interested in what he called the building's "spillover effect": the creation of 270 jobs that would be a boon to the local economy.

In post-Katrina New Orleans, biotechnology will have to play a major role because tourism revenue is down, Xavier President Norman Francis said.

In this climate, he said, "the College of Pharmacy is a major partner."

Al-Khalifa's tour of grant sites began Monday in Baton Rouge, where Louisiana State University received $3.3 million for scholarships for students affected by Katrina. It is to conclude today on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where grants totaling $15.8 million went to rebuild a Boys and Girls Club Community Center in Pass Christian and underwrite care for uninsured Katrina victims at Memorial Hospital at Gulfport.

Awarding the money wasn't easy, said al-Khalifa, explaining that he consulted with a host of experts, including former Secretary of State James Baker, in picking recipients.

"I wanted it to be transparent, to be done in a very professional way so that everyone would know where the money was," the ambassador said. "We want to make sure the money is used for the purpose it was intended for so it won't be lost in the general budget."

Qatar's Ambassador to the United States, H.E. Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, has announced new gifts of $5.6 million representing the final installment of the $100 million Qatar Katrina Fund. The Fund was announced in September 2005 by His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar, to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast area.

The Qatar Katrina Fund was established to provide direct cash assistance to people and institutions in most dire need in the wake of the storm. Gifts were committed to healthcare, education, housing, and places of worship. The Fund's first phase of donations, totaling more than $61 million, was announced on May 2, 2006 and included grants to rebuild homes, financial assistance to provide medical care, and university scholarships Ð all reserved for victims of Katrina. The second phase, representing $33 million in gifts announced on September 8, 2006, targeted the hardest hit areas of Mississippi and Louisiana and commemorated the one-year anniversary of the hurricane. With the latest gift announced today, all $100 million are now committed.

Ambassador Al Khalifa personally led the effort to identify gift recipients and select local organizations to manage and distribute the funds to assure that they reached the people who needed them most. According to Ambassador Al Khalifa, "While this represents the final phase of the Qatar Katrina Fund's donations, we hope that the impact will be felt for many years. Our intention was to meet emergency needs first and foremost, but also to support individuals and local institutions who are building for the future."

Ambassador Al Khalifa received considerable advice in evaluating prospective gift recipients from the Governors and U.S. Congressional Delegations from the most affected states, the Mayors of major cities, a distinguished advisory committee and other community leaders. In addition, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP will audit gift project expenditures from the Qatar Katrina Fund.

The Qatar Katrina Fund chose the following organizations for the final phase of its $100 million donation:

Humanity First USA, a leading worldwide disaster relief and human development organization, will receive a gift of $1.17 million to repair two schools and five mosques serving the Muslim community in New Orleans. In working closely with the Jefferson Muslim Association of the Greater New Orleans area, Humanity First intends to have these hurricane-damaged facilities repaired and in operation within the next year

Loyola University, New Orleans will receive a $1.4 million gift to establish the Qatar Scholarship Fund, which will be used during the next three years to fund 140 scholarships of $10,000 each for financially disadvantaged students from the Gulf Coast who were among those most affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans, will receive a $3,096,511 gift to provide subsidies of up to $25,000 each for the purchase of affordable housing in the New Orleans area for low and moderate income Katrina victims.

JOHN POPE

Loyola University has received $1.4 million from Qatar in the last installment of the $100 million that the oil-rich Middle Eastern kingdom had pledged to help the Gulf Coast area recover from Hurricane Katrina.

The money will underwrite Loyola's Qatar Scholarship Fund, which will be used during the next three years to underwrite 140 $10,000 need-based scholarships for students in the area Katrina slammed.

That grant was part of Qatar's $5.6 million payment, which was announced this week. Other beneficiaries were Humanity First USA, a Washington, D.C., organization that was given $1.17 million to repair two schools and five mosques in the New Orleans area, and Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans, which received nearly $3.1 million to provide subsidies as high as $25,000 to help people buy affordable local housing.

In its first announcement of storm-related grants, Qatar last year gave $12.5 million to Xavier University, $10 million to Tulane University and $3.3 million to Louisiana State University.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Persian Gulf nation of Qatar announced the final installment of its $100 million fund to assist Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katrina, awarding a total of $5.6 million to a New Orleans university, an area housing agency and a worldwide disaster relief and human development organization.

Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans received nearly $3.1 million from the Qatar Katrina Fund to provide subsidies of up to $25,000 each for the purchase of affordable housing in the New Orleans area for low- and moderate-income Katrina victims.

Another $1.4 million went to Loyola University of New Orleans to fund 140 scholarships of $10,000 each over the next three years for financially disadvantaged students from the Gulf Coast who were among those most affected by the hurricane.

Humanity First USA received more than $1.1 million to repair two schools and five mosques serving the Muslim community in New Orleans. Humanity First, working closely with the Jefferson Muslim Association of the Greater New Orleans area, intends to have those hurricane-damaged facilities repaired and operating within the next year.

"While this represent the final phase of the Qatar Katrina Fund's donations, we hope that the impact will be felt for many years," H.E. Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, Qatar's ambassador to the United States, said Friday.

The fund was established in September 2005, the month after Katrina hit, to provide direct cash assistance to people and institutions in most dire need in the wake of the storm. Gifts were committed to health care, education, housing and places of worship.

The fund's first phase of donations, totaling more than $61 million, was announced in May and included grants to rebuild homes, financial assistance to provide medical care and university scholarships -- all reserved for victims of Katrina.

The second phase, representing $33 million, was unveiled in September and targeted the hardest-hit areas of Louisiana and Mississippi.

"Our intention was to meet emergency needs first and foremost, but also to support individuals and local institutions who are building for the future," the ambassador said.

NEW ORLEANS - Qatar's Ambassador to the United States, H.E. Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, has announced new gifts of $5.6 million representing the final installment of the $100 million Qatar Katrina Fund. The fund was announced in September 2005 by Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, amir of the State of Qatar, to assist Hurricane Katrina victims.

The Qatar Katrina Fund was established to provide direct cash assistance to people and institutions after the storm. Gifts were committed to health care, education, housing and places of worship. The fund's first phase of donations, totaling more than $61 million, was announced May 2 and included grants to rebuild homes, financial assistance to provide medical care and university scholarships, all reserved for Katrina victims.

The second phase, representing $33 million in gifts announced Sept. 8 targeted the hardest hit areas of Mississippi and Louisiana and commemorated the one-year anniversary of the hurricane. With the latest gift announced Wednesday, all $100 million is now committed.

Al-Khalifa personally led the effort to identify gift recipients and select local organizations to manage and distribute the funds to assure that they reached the people who needed them most. "While this represents the final phase of the Qatar Katrina Fund's donations, we hope that the impact will be felt for many years," Al Khalifa said. "Our intention was to meet emergency needs first and foremost, but also to support individuals and local institutions who are building for the future."

The Qatar Katrina Fund chose the following organizations for the final phase of its $100 million donation:

• Humanity First USA, a leading worldwide disaster relief and human development organization, will receive a gift of $1.17 million to repair two schools and five mosques serving the Muslim community in New Orleans. In working closely with the Jefferson Muslim Association of the Greater New Orleans area, Humanity First intends to have these hurricane-damaged facilities repaired and in operation within the next year.
• Loyola University will receive a $1.4 million gift to establish the Qatar Scholarship Fund, which will be used during the next three years to fund 140 scholarships of $10,000 each for financially disadvantaged students from the Gulf Coast who were among those most affected by Katrina.
• Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans will receive a $3.1 million gift to provide subsidies of up to $25,000 each for the purchase of affordable housing