Middle East Country Spends 100 Million to Help Rebuild Gulf Coast

Qatar Center in Pass Christian, Mississippi

Almost five years after Katrina hit, the Gulf Coast is still being helped by a generous donation from an oil rich country thousands of miles away. MPB’s Phoebe Judge reports.

Last week the brand new 28,000 square Qatar Center Boys and Girls Club opened in Pass Christian.
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“The main benefactor was the state of Qatar.”

Sam Burke is executive director of The Boys and Girls Club’s for the Gulf Coast.

“The Boys and Girls Club of the Gulf Coast was lucky enough to receive five million dollars to build this center in Pass Christian.”

Qatar is a small oil rich country in the Middle East, and after witnessing the aftermath of hurricane Katrina the government of that country created the $100 million dollar Qatar Katrina Fund. Dean Dilley, an attorney who works as legal counsel to the government of Qatar says the process of choosing which projects to fund was intense,

“I would say that they developed their philosophy early on. Which was not to do this the easy way, I supposed the easy way would simply to donate the funds to the U.S. government. But they had some very specific objectives; they really wanted to make a difference in the areas of healthcare, housing and education.”

The fund has created millions of dollars in scholarships, and housing programs, and the $10.8 million dollar Qatar Hope Fund at Gulfport’s Memorial Hospital, the largest donation that hospital has ever received. Gary Marchand, president of Gulfport Memorial says the donation which has helped thousands pay for hospital treatment, was a complete shock.

“That you would have a small country show that kind of concern for a community that is really almost an entire region in the United States.”

Almost 20 projects have been funded through Qatar’s donation in the last four years.