Red Cross reaches its fundraising goal:

Local donations for storm relief hit $204,000

People in Northwest Montana donated $204,000 to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief efforts.

That money was raised in Flathead, Lake and Lincoln counties through church drives, schools, garage sales, telethons and individual gifts from the community.

Nationwide, the Red Cross announced that current financial donations and pledges will cover the $2.116 billion estimated cost for its response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.

As of Dec. 31, the Red Cross had spent 84 percent of all donated money.

The Red Cross has a standard practice of informing the public when sufficient funds have been raised to cover the costs associated with a disaster response. Therefore the Red Cross will no longer initiate fundraising activities for these hurricanes.

The Red Cross asks donors to support the ongoing needs of hurricane survivors by giving to other charities and nonprofit organizations that continue to raise money for hurricane recovery efforts.

"Our friends and neighbors really stepped up to the plate for the folks down south," said Gayle Wilhelm, director of the Kalispell Service Center for Red Cross.

She said the center's phones were flooded with calls and people came in to donate money, time and in-kind articles. The Kalispell office trained 130 volunteers and 30 went down for a minimum of three weeks to assist in many areas.

The generous financial support from around the world allowed more than 225,000 Red Cross disaster relief workers - 95 percent of them volunteers - to ensure that survivors had a safe place to stay, food and comfort and the means to provide essential items for themselves and their families.

The Red Cross:

. Provided more than 3.4 million overnight stays in nearly 1,200 Red Cross shelters.

. Served more than 34 million meals and 30 million snacks.

. Delivered emergency financial assistance to more than 1.4 million families (more than 4 million people).

The public's continued support is essential to the Montana Red Cross, which provides lifesaving support in Northwest Montana every day. Support of the Disaster Relief Fund is also vital because it enables the Red Cross to respond quickly to large disasters whenever and wherever they strike.