In light of the massive recovery facing communities from floods and storms that wreaked havoc in 2008 across major portions of Indiana, Lilly Endowment Inc. announced Monday grants totaling $50 million for disaster relief and recovery. The grants have been approved for three organizations that have significant experience serving in disaster situations.

The American Red Cross and The Salvation Army each will receive $2.5 million to help with their efforts to alleviate the more immediate needs of citizens and communities that have suffered from disasters in 2008 and to help replenish their disaster relief funds.

The Indiana Association of United Ways (IAUW) has been awarded $45 million for a disaster response fund from which IAUW will make grants for relief and recovery efforts at the county level in counties damaged by 2008 disasters. Eligibility criteria likely will include whether a county has been declared a disaster area by the state or federal government.

Applications to the fund will be based on the recommendations of local United Ways, which will work with community foundations and other key community partners to set local priorities for the funds.

IAUW expects to offer grants in at least two rounds. The first round, which IAUW plans to offer as soon as possible, will provide up to $100,000 in flexible funding to local United Ways and in some cases to community foundations for each county affected by a 2008 disaster. This funding may be used for immediate needs and for assistance in planning and facilitation efforts related to prioritizing a county's needs for support from subsequent funding rounds.

One or more subsequent rounds will offer larger grants which are expected to vary in amount from county-to-county in accordance with factors determined by the grants advisory committee. These factors will include local needs, available resources, the scale and type of the damage, local demographics and others.

"The Endowment believes that in situations such as these it is preferable for local communities to be able to prioritize the needs for which funding will be sought, and the Endowment is confident that IAUW has the ability to encourage local priority-setting efforts," said state president N. Clay Robbins.

For nearly 30 years the Endowment has supported IAUW's efforts to build an effective network of United Ways across the state. There now are 62 United Ways serving the local needs of 80 some counties. In particular, I n - diana residents needing disaster relief assistance should call the American Red Cross at (317) 438-4636 or toll free at 1-866-438-4636; The Salvation Army at (317) 937-7000 or toll free at 1-800-589-1037; or the Indiana information and referral service at 2-1-1.