Global campaign raises 18,000 USD for Tbilisi flood victims in 14 hours

People all over the world have a chance to help Georgia’s capital city recover from a devastating flood that slammed Tbilisi on Saturday night.

More than $18,000 USD (about 40,500 GEL) has been raised in less than 24 hours through donations from about 375 people via Indiegogo, an international crowd-funding website.

The account was established by a Georgian woman on Sunday afternoon to help raise money for people affected by the flash flood.

“I, Maka Meshveliani, set up this campaign [on Sunday] afternoon to allow those willing to help survivors of Tbilisi flooding to do so. We will have a public discussion as to how the $10,000 USD [the original fundraising goal] will be spent and anything that we will raise above $10,000 USD will be directed to the specific project,” said the woman behind the campaign.

“My friends and I are doing a needs assessment as we speak and are headed to talk to the local authorities and some of the people directly affected by the flooding,” she said.

On Monday afternoon, users named ‘tinamik 2000’ and ‘Iadn 918’ each donated $500, while others donated $100, $50 or whatever they could afford.

People can donate to the Indiegogo campaign for 30 days before it closes in mid-July.

This was one of several funds established in the past 24 hours to raise money for victims of the June 13 disaster.

Yesterday a group of young people from the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Germany and Russia set up the Tbilisi Hippo Fund a charity foundation, where people can purchase bags or t-shirts, with funds going to those affected by the flash flood. (Agenda.ge)