A year after its efforts began, the Butler Rotary Club has distributed more than $100,000 to victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

It was this time a year ago that the Rotary Club began raising money for a Sri Lankan village that was washed away in the Dec. 26, 2004, disaster. The total raised was $102,500.

Rotary member Dr. Gordon Fletcher said the money has been distributed and the project is complete.

Although the group completed its effort to raise $100,000 in May, Fletcher said the organization raised an additional $2,000 before distributing the funds.

Of the funds raised, all but $75 was sent directly to Sri Lanka, according to Peter Richdale, secretary of the Rotary Club.

He said the $75 was for the three times the club wired money overseas. It cost $25 each time to send the money.

The club paid all other expenses.

Fletcher said the Rotary used the money to build 30 houses for victims of the disaster, with each of them also receiving $50 per month for 12 months.

He said the donations helped the small community there rise up, as the wave of destruction left villagers with almost nothing.

"They basically had nothing except a tent," he said.

Along with the 30 houses funded by the Butler Rotary Club, another 30 were built by Rotary International.

He said the village, which was moved inland about a mile, also received donations to pay for the installation of wells, sewers and roads.

Today, just a little more than a year after the tsunami, Fletcher said the village is almost fully operational.

Because Rotary spearheaded the bulk of the project, he said the expectations are the village will be named in honor of either the Butler or the international group.

Fletcher, who visited the island nation shortly after the disaster to survey the damage, hopes to make a return trip to see the recovery progress first hand.