Billionaire Donates $5 Million To San Jose Flood Victims Relief Fund
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- A Los Angeles-area billionaire donated $5 million to the San Jose Flood Victims Relief Fund this afternoon, increasing the victim-focused fund six-fold.
The fund benefits the American Red Cross, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, Sacred Heart Community Service and the Salvation Army.
Those organizations will issue funds for expenses like temporary accommodations, car repair and replacement furnishings to victims of the flood.
Kieu Hoang, who at 31 immigrated to California as a refugee at the end of the Vietnam War, founded Rare Antibody Antigen Supply in 1980 and Shanghai RAAS Blood Products in 1992, according to his Facebook page.
Before Hoang's donation, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation said the victim's relief fund had just over $1 million, including $100,000 from the Silicon Valley Auto Dealers Association and $75,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
More than 400 households who were told to evacuate last week are still out of their homes, Mayor Sam Liccardo said at Tuesday's City Council meeting.
About 600 households affected by the flood are considered to be in extreme financial need, especially those without insurance.
The city's estimate that the flood caused $50 million in damage to private property and $23 million in damage to public property such as parks had not changed as of Tuesday afternoon.
About 80 percent of households in the heavily affected Rock Springs neighborhood are Vietnamese immigrants.
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