Research Symposium

BIO

Darshini Vancheeswaran grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, and is a freshman at Florida State University working towards a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. As a member of the university's honors program, she is passionate about broadening her knowledge both inside and outside the classroom. Darshini plans to attend law school after completing her undergraduate degree and hopes to pursue a career in the legal field, focused on advocacy and public service. Her interest in law stemmed from a desire to address inequities in her community. Outside of academics, Darshini enjoys staying involved on campus, especially with initiatives that promote civic engagement and leadership. She has collaborated with organizations focused on advancing gender equity and supporting survivors in schools, including engaging in conversations with district leaders and school board members to advocate for stronger protections and resources. Darshini believes that everyone, regardless of age, is capable of creating meaningful change. She hopes to use her research and education to understand the challenges facing communities and work towards finding solutions.

Disaster Aid Type in the Big Bend

Abstract

After a hurricane or natural disaster, many different groups mobilize to respond across the nonprofit, for-profit, religious, and governmental sectors. It is important to understand how money, supplies, and other resources reach communities of different income levels, races, housing stability, and other socioeconomic factors, so they can recover and rebuild. This knowledge also helps improve planning and response for future disasters. In the current study, we use surveys to analyze different organizations’ disaster aid efforts. A key topic in relation to this study is analyzing the abundance in different types of philanthropy versus the areas affected by disaster, primarily around the Big Bend of Florida. Using our approach, we coordinate these territories in the Big Bend area with the types and abundance of different philanthropies that are given when responding to disasters.

Keywords: Disaster Aid, Nonprofit Management