PAEA's emergency relief fund helps PA programs recover from natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and fires. The financial assistance provided by the fund allows programs affected by these disasters to resume normal functioning more quickly.

The Association’s goal is to build the fund primarily through activities conducted during the PAEA Annual Education Forum as well as through other special fundraising campaigns. At the 2009 Annual Education Forum in Portland, Oregon, PAEA members contributed more than $700 to the PAEA Disaster Relief Fund through purchasing tickets for tours, donation of honoraria, and personal donations. PAEA donated $5 of each of the tickets sold for the two Friday afternoon tours to the fund.

Make an online contribution to the PAEA Disaster Relief Fund
Please Note: Before you make a donation, please first log in with your member ID so that the donation form will prepopulate with your contact information.

Donations to the fund are accepted at any time directly through the PAEA website or through the national office (contact Lisa Belding at lbelding@paeaonline.org; (703) 548-5538, ext. 312). All contributions and donations to the fund go to a restricted fund designated by the PAEA Board of Directors.

To apply for funding, PA member programs should inform the national office that they have been affected by a disaster and submit a list of needed items (e.g., lab equipment, text books). Program directors should send this list by email to the PAEA national office to the attention of Lisa Belding, executive assistant, at lbelding@paeaonline.org. Please call Lisa at (703) 548-5538, ext. 312, with any questions.

PAEA will decide how to best help the program based upon their stated needs at the time of application. PAEA’s Board of Directors will evaluate all requests and determine funding allocations based upon available funds. In addition, PAEA will notify its other member programs on behalf of the affected program and request additional assistance if necessary.