CARE to Receive $850,000 for Kosovo Aid

ATLANTA, Georgia -- CARE, the Atlanta-based international relief and development organization, is to receive $850,000 in emergency grants to aid hundreds of thousands of refugees from Kosovo. The Pew Charitable Trusts have pledged $350,000 and the William H. Gates Foundation pledged $500,000 to help provide immediate relief and longer-term, sustainable solutions for the Kosovo humanitarian crisis.

"The refugee migration out of Kosovo is probably the largest within Europe since World War II," says Peter D. Bell, CARE president and CEO. "Critical support from The Pew Charitable Trusts and the William H. Gates Foundation will enable CARE to provide refugees with immediate, life-saving assistance."

Bill Gates Sr., director of the William H. Gates Foundation says, "This is a terrible human tragedy for the refugees of Kosovo. The William H. Gates Foundation hopes that by supporting this initiative it will enable organizations such as CARE to move quickly to provide food and shelter," he affirms. "This is only a beginning because longer-term recovery efforts will be needed to help people reestablish their lives."

Rebecca W. Rimel, president and CEO of The Pew Charitable Trusts says, "The catastrophe unfolding in the Balkans will require a special level of compassion. We hope that our contributions will inspire others to join with us to ease the suffering of the Kosovar refugees."

Although CARE had to suspend operations in Kosovo on March 22, the organization is working in five areas of the region bordering Kosovo province. They are Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. A CARE emergency response team arrives today to set up operations in Albania, where at least 170,000 refugees are expected to arrive within days.