Money flows in to flood site

In the wake of disastrous flooding that paralyzed parts of West Virginia, the governor has set up a Web site where people have donated hundreds of dollars electronically.

The site (www.wvgives.org) was set up last week and has been publicized since July 20. Over the weekend, it received almost 2,000 hits and brought in more than $1,000, according to the Governor's Office of Technology.

"It's done extremely well," Amy Schuler Goodwin, the governor's press secretary, said of the site.

Contributions go to a nonprofit organization called West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, an umbrella group encompassing members that include the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services.

When making donations, people have the option of giving money immediately via a credit card or making a pledge online then sending money later. Most of the donations have been by credit card, said Liza Cordeiro, media specialist with the Governor's Office of Technology.

The Governor's Office of Technology designed the site with a two-pronged goal:

* Organizing the help effort, which included enabling people to make donations, as well as providing information on how to volunteer and a bulletin board on which relief organizations and others can list items they need or goods they'd like to donate.

* Posting information for flood victims so they knew who to call and where to go for help, and other survival tips.

According to the Charleston Daily Mail, the Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates that the July 8 floods destroyed 1,079 homes, caused major damage to 1,626 and caused minor damage to 4,442 more. Since the end of May, 22 West Virginia counties have been declared disaster areas because of flooding.