Red Cross Donations for Tsunami Tragedy

[Resume Writer]

Hi Everyone,

My sister sent me this information in an email. She has spent a great deal of time over in Asia, as she taught the military children on different bases for the Department of Defense in Japan and South Korea (I believe). She also adopted a Chinese daughter a few years ago, so she has seen it all over there.

Here is what she wrote:

>>I am so saddened by the tragedy that has hit Asia. This stands to be the worst natural disaster ever. I have been to some of these parts of the world, and oftentimes, the shirt on their back is all that these people have. They will not be able to adequately do what needs to be done (I won't get graphic here) with the little that they have.

If you are moved to do so, you can go to www.amazon.com and donate to the Red Cross. It's cool - I've been watching the counter of donations and the amount donated climbs with each reload of the page. Americans are so generous. The minimum amount is $5. If you can afford to, please do what you can. It's all tax deductible (a bright spot as December 31 looms).<<

I hope everyone can donate a little bit. I feel very badly for these people.

Kathy

 

[Snoopy58]

Thanks for the heads-up, Kathy!

 

[Resume Writer]

No problem, Snoopy!

Everyone, please forward that information to everyone you know. I have posted it to several e-lists to which I belong. Aside from everything being washed away and people being dead, the greatest problem now will be the diseases that come afterward.

Very sad for these people...

Kathy

 

[TonyC]

If you are moved to do so, you can go to www.amazon.com and donate to the Red Cross. It's cool - I've been watching the counter of donations and the amount donated climbs with each reload of the page. Americans are so generous. The minimum amount is $5. If you can afford to, please do what you can. It's all tax deductible (a bright spot as December 31 looms

bummp

 

[wrxpilot]

Thanks Kathy. As someone that went through two of the hurricanes in FL this summer, it's certainly the least I can do after receiving so much help from around the country.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

bump.

 

[V-1]

Don't forget about how the Red Cross collected money in the wake of a recent tragedy...then decided to only disburse a fraction of the donations received towards the cause for which those donations were made.

I urge everyone to offer help however they can...just think twice about donating money through the Red Cross. There are organizations out there with higher levels of integrety who can perform the same function.

 

[Atccfi]

I just went through paypal directly to UNICEF. Hate to donate to big orgs. as lots of money gets "used" along the way....

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Don't forget about how the Red Cross collected money in the wake of a recent tragedy...then decided to only disburse a fraction of the donations received towards the cause for which those donations were made.

I urge everyone to offer help however they can...just think twice about donating money through the Red Cross. There are organizations out there with higher levels of integrety who can perform the same function.

For informational purposes....please name them.

 

[V-1]

The Times of India does a good job of coordinating relief donations for disasters that impact India. We chose not to go that route this time, and donated instead through Americares. It's just a personal preference of ours not to use the Red Cross after the way they initially planned to use funds donated to them immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks.

https://www.americares.org/donate/?id=South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund

Regardless how anyone chooses to contribute, kudos to those who chose to do so. Those of us who've traveled to these parts of the world understand how truly fortunate we are.

 

[TonyC]

I wish the minimum message length was 4 characters instead of 5 so we could just say "bump" instead of "bummp" or "bump." or ".....". Oh, well....


The reason the American Red Cross can respond to disasters so quickly is that they have funds and supplies on hand immediately, and don't have to wait for contributions to roll in. There is a local group here that is assembling a collection of food and water and flashlights and batteries and such to send to aid, but if the people over there had to wait for these supplies to arrive, they might already be dead. The Red Cross can supply those immediate needs because somebody donated money during the last disaster. The money collected by the Red Cross this time around will replace the supplies immediately on hand from the money that was collected the last time around, and when all is said and done will be used to make sure there are supplies on hand for the next time around.


You may be unhappy about the amount of money spent on overhead, and I won't even attempt to address that issue. But don't get all worked up about which disaster the money "goes to." If a bottle of water goes to a tsunami victim that was actually paid for by money that was sent in relief of 9/11, I don't care. The concept of helping a human being in desperate need remains the same.




bump

 

[TonyC]

bump

 

[transpac]

I donate gladly to a host of charitable organizations. With that said, I wouldn't give the sweat off my rear end to the Red Cross.

 

[Resume Writer]

The reason I put the Red Cross as the donation portal was because they are able to get the needed items to the victims quickly. I know they messed up after 9/11, but I have a feeling they will not make that mistake again.


I just hope that everyone donates something; to whatever charity they choose. Just be careful which organization you send your donations to as there is a great deal of fraud. Just like all the organizations that popped up after 9/11 and scammed money out of people.

 

[BornAgainPagan]

Considering that the salary of the CEO of the Red Cross is $621,435.00 per year, they're not my first choice.

My suggestion is Direct Relief International or any others with a high rating. They, along with others, received a 100% efficiency rating from Forbes magazine. Red Cross; 36%

http://www.directrelief.org/index.html

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Not sure how much creditibility Jay Leno has, but he is doing the celeberty signed Harly with the ebay value going to the Red Cross....

 

[qmaster3]

I would go with Leno if I had the $$$.

 

[qmaster3]

Clarification

I believe the Red Cross, and other well known organizations are great. What I should have written is that Leno in my judgment has credibility..The Harley would be nice too

 

[turning2]

Direct Relief International is a non-profit, non-political, and non-sectarian organization that provides assistance without regard to race, ethnicity, political or religious affiliation, gender, or ability to pay. We are committed to making every dollar count – less than 1% of our support goes to administrative and fundraising expenses.

In 2003, Direct Relief International was able to deliver $3,400 in medical aid for every $100 donated!

In the year 2003, our administrative and fundraising expenses were less than 1% of our public support and revenue. Consumers Digest magazine rated Direct Relief as one of only five U.S. charitable organizations with 99% or better efficiency ratings in all categories reviewed.

These were all selling points for me. Thankx to BornAgainPagan for the link.

http://www.directrelief.org/index.html

 

[Flechas]

You can call the red cross and give them yourcredit card number, that's what i did.

1-800-HELP-NOW

 

[slaabpilot]

i never knew a volunteer could make so much!

 

[CrewResearch]

tsunami relief donations

I suppose we all have charities that we like, and others that we don't care for so much.

Here's a web page that lists a variety to chose from: http://aircrewhealth.com/linkscharity.htm

(In the interest of "full disclosure:" I own the website on which this list exists.)

This disaster was/is so massive in scope that any and all of these good organizations can use some help. I'm sure there are many more -- and I don't think anyone will mind if other people post their favorites, too... Something for everyone.