After Hurricane Katrina, President George W. Bush asked two former presidents-- Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush-- to co-chair a private fund-raising effort. They created the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund which has raised over $100 million in contributions. Some $20 million of those funds were earmarked for churches to assist them in rebuilding damaged houses of worship. An interfaith committee was created to advise the fund on how to distribute monies to churches.
Yesterday the Washington Post reported that the co-chairs of the advisory committee-- Bishop T.D. Jakes and the Rev. William H. Gray III-- have resigned. A third committee member, Rev. William J. Shaw, resigned last week end. Some reports say that 8 of the 9 advisory committee members have submitted resignations. The advisory committee says that the staff of the Fund is ignoring their recommendations. Gray said that the board and staff would concur with the committee's recommendations in meetings, but then would act in the opposite way. Jakes and Shaw resigned when the staff refused to explain why, without committee knowledge, they sent $35,000 to a church that had not been inspected to determine its need.
