Washington, D.C. – The Hungarian American Coalition has voted to approve an $80,000 grant to aid reconstruction of a town in Eastern Hungary that was devastated by massive flooding last Spring.

The grant recipient is the town of Vámosújfalu (pop. 900), located in the Tokaj region of eastern Hungary. It was chosen based on recommendations by Hungarian flood relief officials and an on-site field visit by Zsolt Szekeres, treasurer of the Coalition.

The grant will be used to rebuild Vámosújfalu’s public administration building, which was totally destroyed. At present, the mayor and other officials are conducting business in a tent and a borrowed trailer. It is expected that construction will be completed in Fall of 2000. In addition, the Coalition’s grant has acted as a catalyst to release $800,000 in funds from the Hungarian government, which will be used to build a floodwall to protect the town against future river floodings.

The Coalition’s grant stems from a major contribution by an anonymous donor to the Coalition’s Tisza Flood Victims’ Relief Fund, set up to help mitigate the damage and suffering caused by the Tisza River flooding earlier this year.