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Quarter Century of Compassion
Charity (1997-2005)
Tzu Chi in the USA
1989 – 2014

n August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina viciously struck the Gulf
Coast, pounding Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, and
Osending large waves crashing into Florida and Texas. In low-
lying New Orleans, fifty-three protective levees were breached by the
Category 5 hurricane, allowing the storm to submerge eighty percent of
the city. In total, 1,836 people were killed and roughly thirty thousand
were evacuated, while property damage exceeded $108 billion. It was the
costliest hurricane, as well as one of the deadliest, in U.S. history.

For thousands of New Orleans residents who were evacuated to
Texas, the city of Mesquite served as a reception and processing center. On
September 1, just a couple days after the storm, Tzu Chi volunteers started
providing meals to social workers serving at the site and distributing
toilet paper, wet wipes, and bottled water to evacuees.
On September 2, Tzu Chi Global Headquarters in Hualien released
Dharma Master Cheng Yen’s open letter to hurricane survivors, in which
she called on Tzu Chi volunteers all around the world to gather their
love to help New Orleans. Beginning the next day, Tzu Chi volunteers
throughout the United States and in forty countries around the world
took to the streets to raise funds and hold charity bazaars to gather
donations for supporting hurricane survivors. With these donations,
Tzu Chi USA Headquarters started purchasing supermarket gift cards to
provide to survivors.
The majority of evacuated residents were housed at large facilities,
including the George R. Brown Convention Center and Astrodome
in Houston, as well as the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth.
Starting on September 4, hundreds of Tzu Chi volunteers from across the
U.S. and Canada started holding relief distributions at evacuation centers
in Houston and Beaumont. They distributed checks for emergency aid as
well as gift cards to be redeemed for needed supplies. Storm survivors
who had relocated to New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Kansas, Arizona, and
elsewhere also enjoyed the care and financial support of local Tzu Chi
volunteers.
On September 1, Tzu Chi volunteers Yuanliang Ling and Jason Yeh
started visiting Dallas City Hall every single day, hoping to meet the mayor
and explain that Tzu Chi wished to help the evacuees currently housed
in the Will Rogers Memorial Center. After six days, they finally made
contact with the help of Gaytha Davis, coordinator of the City of Dallas
Mayor’s Back-to-School Fair, which Tzu Chi had long supported. Through

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