NEW YORK — Nearly half of the nearly $600 million raised by charities for Hurricane Sandy relief still has not been spent on the victims, the attorney general announced Wednesday.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman released a report on 89 charities in the state that found at least $238 million of the more than $575 million raised for Sandy relief still had not been spent as of April.
“We have a responsibility to the people who donated their hard-earned money to help our community rebuild to make sure that the contributions they made were used as advertised,” Schneiderman said in a statement.
The report also found that some organizations reported they may use their remaining funds for non-Sandy purposes, including assistance for future disasters.
The Attorney General’s Charities Bureau, which complied the report, said it would step up its review of Sandy fundraising and relief efforts because of the report, and has called on charities to redirect funds they aren’t using for Sandy relief to other organizations still providing assistance.
