Volume 49, Number 16 · October 24, 2002
The Floods in Prague
By Wendy W. Luers
To the Editors:
It is over a month since the devastating floods in Prague and the Czech Republic. As of September 18, 15,000 people were still homeless. Worse, now that the water has receded, the extent of the damage to cultural heritage treasures as well as normal yet beloved possessions is horrifying and much greater than imagined. The Ministry of Culture has identified 1,100 galleries, museums, buildings, theaters, castles, churches, and synagogues in twenty-nine cities and towns which are destroyed.
What can you do? If you send a tax-deductible contribution now to the Foundation for a Civil Society, Box 2235, New York, NY 10021, FCS will provide a US tax deduction and will transfer 100 percent of the funds to Czech NGOs for direct humanitarian aid and cultural restoration. The VIA Foundation (our affiliate) has created the Cultural Heritage Renovation Fund to receive applications from individuals and institutions for restoration funds. This process is intended to fill the inevitable "gaps" in a crisis of this proportion.
Refer everyone to www.floods.cz and www.fcsny.org for further information.
Wendy W. Luers
President
Foundation for a Civil Society
New York City