Tbilisi Hippo Fund: Raising money for Tbilisi flash flood victims

People from around the globe are banding together to support those affected by a deadly flood in Georgia’s capital on Saturday night.

A group of young people from the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Germany and Russia have set up a charity foundation to help the victims of the June 13 flash flood.

English man Adrian Scoffham, who now lived in Tbilisi, came up with the idea to establish the Tbilisi Hippo Fund. The Fund will provide financial assistance to affected people as well as Tbilisi Zoo, which lost about half of its animals in the deadly flood.

Our goal is to create T-shirts and bags that people can buy, and they can also make donations to help the people and the animals affected by the storm,” said organisers of the Tbilisi Hippo Fund on its Facebook page.

Scoffham released a video on the social media site that stated he had designed and created black and white T-shirts and cotton bags to be sold. The proceeds from these items would go directly to those affected by the flood. The bags can be purchased for 20 GEL (about $9 USD) and T-shirts for 40 GEL (about $18 USD).

Fifty percent of the proceeds will be spent on helping people and the remaining 50 percent will go to help the animals at flooded Tbilisi Zoo," Scoffham said.

People from any part of the world can donate money to the Tbilisi Hippo Fund. This can be done from the Facebook page.

Latest figures stated at least 12 people have died and about two dozen remain missing following the heavy rainfall and floods. In addition, dozens of animals escaped from Tbilisi Zoo after their enclosures flooded. It is believed some animals are still on the loose however many have been killed or tranquilised.