Macfadden continues to support emergency preparedness efforts as a part of USAID's Stamping Out Pandemic and Avian Influenza (STOP AI) team. 
Macfadden's Grants Management Team Has a Record Year
Thursday, 01 November 2007
When a disaster strikes, the ability to speed relief to those in need can often mean the difference between life and death. Macfadden's Grants Management Team at the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) has played a pivotal role in the international disaster response process for more than a decade. In fact, since 1992, on behalf of USAID-OFDA Macfadden's Grants Management team has obligated 100% of eligible funds. During the recently-completed FY 2007, Macfadden's Grants Management Team overcame unique challenges in order to obligate all the grants that serve OFDA's mandate to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and reduce the social and economic impact of humanitarian emergencies worldwide.
This past fiscal year was an especially challenging one for the team for a variety of reasons: USAID received funds later in the year due to Foreign Assistance reforms including the receipt of "emergency" supplemental appropriations in the fourth quarter, the deadlines for information to be received by the grants team were moved to a later date in the year, and there were staff shortages across the agency. Under these circumstances, Macfadden's grants management team was faced with the daunting task of having to obligate better than half of the entire year's funds in the 4th quarter of the year alone. This required a tremendous effort of the team to pull together and keep its track record intact. When the fiscal year ended, 100% of the eligible funds had been obligated totaling nearly $400 million in over 400 actions (grants, cooperative agreements, interagency agreements and modifications).
Acting Director of USAID, Henrietta Fore congratulated OFDA, which includes Macfadden's Grants Management Team, by noting, "I fully recognize the challenging circumstances you faced [but] despite all of this, you rose to the occasion to obligate a massive amount of funds in record time."
Among the many grants that were processed during this period of great year-end activity were some that were very high-profile and high-priority: Fourth-quarter grants processed by the Macfadden team provided the resources necessary to respond to heavy rains in North Korea that left over 300,000 people homeless and to the infighting in Sri Lanka that have left the country with many thousands more Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
"Macfadden's Grants Management team is a great example of how our employees continue to deliver results and exceed expectations," said Russ Hall, President and CEO of Macfadden. "They have truly shown their commitment to OFDA's mandate and Macfadden's dedication to humanitarian development."