Ok, putting myself out there and donning my flame proof suit. ;)

I have read too many articles and heard too many radio programs on the pitfalls of the Red cross.. how they had raised $500 million after 9-11 and how only $1.5m went to the disaster relief and help.. and it goes on about how they spent money on other tragedies. Red Cross stated that they just stuck the surplus into a savings to save it for other problems that arise.. but to me.. if I am sending my money for help in the hurricane situation, that's what I want my donation sent to yk? Plus all of the money that just goes into their own pockets for salaries etc.. I just really want to find a different organization to send to.

Anyone have any other options that the Red Cross?

Please feel free to argue with this.. but I have read many times over bad things about the Red Cross and misappropriations of funds.. I just would really love some other venue to donate to.

http://www.give.org/reports/index.asp#S

Here is a website that you can go to to get information on a whole slew of charities that accept donations nationally.

I am not a very religous person, but several local churches (all different denominations) have some great ways to directly donate going on. It might be worth looking into. :)

I was kind of worried about the same thing. I found out that a local car dealership is taking non-perishible donations and filling a truck to drive down to LA. so I went out and bought socks and toothbrushes, toothpaste, deoderant etc. and dropping them off. I think this is a great idea and there is no "middle man" to take any of my donation like they might with money, I feel much more comfortable doing this. Not to mention I am familliar with this dealership and they do lots of charity work for our community so I do feel good about dropping off with them. I also just emailed my freecycle groups to let them know too.

I did not donate to the Red Cross simply because I knew they were receiving the bulk of donations. I sent my money to Planned Parenthood (one month of free birth control to evacuees), the Humane Society (rescuing pets and livestock) and the Austin food bank (I have ties to the area and they are housing a few thousand evacuees).

I don't have a problem with Red Cross using donations for various causes because people only give money when something huge happens, and there are smaller disasters every day -- fires for instance. I just felt like there were other charities doing work that was worthy of attention.

I have given to the Red Cross in the past and likely will again, as they assist soldiers and their families in crisis and I may need them someday.

we had a local radio station collect money & non-persihables on Friday and starting driving that night to deliver them to the Gulf. It was done through a website called www.stormaid.com

here is a link to the radio station's drive
http://www.bobandtheshowgram.com/katrina_help.html

I second looking at www.give.org for donations....lots of unbiased info. :monkeydan

I think it was Friday, Roger Hedgcock was filling in for Rush Limbaugh when I was listening. He was talking about how a lot of the faith based organizations were doing such a good job getting in there and helping people, right from the beginning. I guess some of the larger organizations take longer to organize or something. He mentioned a specific example of how the faith based organizations were allowing people to bring their pets with them while evacuating. They seem to treat people more as individual humans, and not just a number. He spoke specifically about an organization run by a southern Baptist church, but also mentioned that many faith based organizations (like Catholic Charities) are also like that...

I was thinking of donating to America's Second Harvest. Here's there website and the give.com page about them. 98% of donations are used on their programs on only 2% on fundraising and administration.
http://www.secondharvest.org/default2.asp
http://www.give.org/reports/report.aspx?ID=400&ReportType=1

See, I would rather that people not donate specifically to "hurricane relief" because when that happens, lots of other worthy causes go under-funded. Our local food pantry is empty because all the regualr donors re-routed their donations. After 9-11 there were lots of organizations who had surplus funds but couldn't use them on the forgotten charities because they had specified "9-11", kwim? I got chewed out for donating canned goods to a local family instead of hurricane relief on freecycle the other day. Just today there was a "quit listing it here and donate it to Katrina relief" message on freecycle that just rubbed me the wrong way. I considered where I was going to donate my extra canned goods, and decided that a local family would be better served that the hurricane victims at this point, considering there is all sorts of aid and relief heading that way, and options are dwindling for local assistance. Admittedly, I am terrified of what this winter will bring. I already can't afford to get to school and back. Our heating bills were around $200/month last winter, and there were already plans to raise the rates. Now with Katrina they are going up even more, and there will be less assistance available to families like mine. I cannot even fathom where we will find $300 or more a month to heat our little home. Anyway, I've chosen to act locally because it will make a much larger impact than a tiny donation to a gigantic cause. Am I making any sense?

We gave to World Vision.

http://www.worldvision.org/

http://www.give.org/reports/report.aspx?ID=462&ReportType=1

See, I would rather that people not donate specifically to "hurricane relief" because when that happens, lots of other worthy causes go under-funded. Our local food pantry is empty because all the regualr donors re-routed their donations. After 9-11 there were lots of organizations who had surplus funds but couldn't use them on the forgotten charities because they had specified "9-11", kwim? I got chewed out for donating canned goods to a local family instead of hurricane relief on freecycle the other day. Just today there was a "quit listing it here and donate it to Katrina relief" message on freecycle that just rubbed me the wrong way. I considered where I was going to donate my extra canned goods, and decided that a local family would be better served that the hurricane victims at this point, considering there is all sorts of aid and relief heading that way, and options are dwindling for local assistance. Admittedly, I am terrified of what this winter will bring. I already can't afford to get to school and back. Our heating bills were around $200/month last winter, and there were already plans to raise the rates. Now with Katrina they are going up even more, and there will be less assistance available to families like mine. I cannot even fathom where we will find $300 or more a month to heat our little home. Anyway, I've chosen to act locally because it will make a much larger impact than a tiny donation to a gigantic cause. Am I making any sense?


You make complete sense, and I agree with everything you and one of the previous posters said.. you are right.. red cross doesn't get an influx of donations the rest of the year like when a disaster happens.. so it is wise to put some of that money away for other times.. just seems from some of what I've read that some of the higher ups like to line their pockets a tad more when they get more money. ;) I'm sure that happens in a lot of places though sadly.

I do donate locally through my Church.. and I'm researching places to donate now. Thank you for the advice. Oh personally.. when I have extra money, I tend to send it to doctors without borders. That charity always seems to tug at my heart the most. :)

I donated through my church/Catholic charities. I'd like to help in other ways, but am not sure how :(

We donated to Catholic Charities through our church, a group that is physically there hands-on helping right now with 100% of the money going to help, not to be squandered. I do not support the Red Cross.

We're giving through our Church/Catholic Charities also. They'll be collecting over the next few weeks at our church.

I donated through my church (unitarian universalist) and I have items I would like to directly send. And, I also donated to a couple of local causes as well.

I would donate if I actually had money. As a child I lived in Alabama for a short time. The levee in our town broke and the red cross was a big help, they were actually our only source of food and water at that time.

I've been thinking about this too. Does anyone know if there's an adopt-a-family thing set up anywhere?

We donate to a different FEMA approved charity. I didn't like the way Red Cross handled the Tsunami relief situation. I also think that Red Cross takes too high a percentage for their own pockets.

Red Cross and other organizations are taking volunteers of people willing to host families that are within a certain mile radius of affected areas.

Thank you for posting this thread. I haven't made my donation yet but I forgot the concerns I had with the red cross. I will donate but not to the Red Cross
Jen

I took some canned food to the Red Cross station, but I did not give $$. We don't have any other non-religous organizations where I live, so I figured this was my best way to help out. BTW, I had a bunch of nice clothes, but the RC only wanted new items, so I took those to a thrift store. After they looked at them, they called to say they were full, but a local family had a house fire, and would I like to donate those clothes to them. I still have not heard about the house fire, b/c only Katrina is in the news :( I really feel for the familes that have accidents in the next month or so, b/c people are giving so much now, that they won't be able to donate locally. I think instead of sending things down south, I will donate locally as much as I can. Another way I think would ge good to donate, and feel it really is helping is to donate to the members on BBs that I frequent who are actually housing Katrina victims in their homes (increased electric, food, ect.). You could just send a WM GC or something to help out.

Let me throw in, that the United Methodist Committee on Relief (Umcor) is supported by the denomination. NOTHING you give goes to overhead or salaries.

If you give $1.00, then $1.00 goes to aid. 100% of every dollar. Umcor was in NO before the hurricane (they were still there from Dennis) and will be there until everything is finished. They were the last to leave the area when Andrew hit - years later. Umcor was one of the few religious organizations tapped to work directly with FEMA.

They also have specific kids you can assemble. Any United Methodist Church should be able to receive these and get them to the folks who need them. Our area has already organized teams to go ever week through the end of the year. One team goes for a week, then another comes to replace them and so on.

You can go here: http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/ to find out information.

I am not connected to Umcor in any way, other than being United Methodist. Let me say again - 100% of ever dollar goes directly to relief.

Health Kit

Health kits provide basic necessities to people who have been forced to leave their homes because of human conflict or natural disaster. Health kits are also used as learning tools in personal hygiene, literacy, nutrition and cooking classes. When people gain the knowledge and materials to maintain personal hygiene, their overall health improves.

1 hand towel (15" x 25" up to 17" x 27", No kitchen towels)
1 washcloth
1 comb (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized)
1 nail file or fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail clippers)
1 bath-size bar of soap (3 oz. and up)
1 toothbrush (single brushes only in original wrapper, No child-size brushes)
1 large tube of toothpaste (expiration date must be 6 months or longer in advance of the date of shipment to UMCOR Sager Brown)
6 adhesive plastic strip sterile bandages
Place these items inside a sealed one-gallon plastic bag.

Flood Bucket
(Updated: 11/15/2004)

These supplies enable people to begin the overwhelming job of cleaning up after a flood or hurricane. For flood buckets only, if the requested sized item is not available, go down to the next available size. If nothing is available in the requested or smaller size, put masking tape on the outside of the bucket saying, "This bucket contains no _________."

5-gallon bucket with resealable lid
Bleach (two 1-quart or one 82 oz. bottle. Do not include bleach of you are shipping the bucket through the US Postal Service, UPS or FedEx)
5 scouring pads
7 Sponges
1 scrub brush
18 cleaning towels (reusable wipes)
Liquid laundry detergent (two 25 oz. or one 50 oz. bottle)
1 household cleaner, 12-16 oz. bottle
Disinfectant dish soap, 16-28 oz. bottle
50 clothes pins
Clothes line (two 50 ft. or one 100 ft.)
5 dust masks
2 pair latex gloves
1 pair work gloves
24-bag roll of heavy-duty trash bags, 33-45 gallon (remove roll from box before placing in bucket)
1 Insect repellant spray, 6-14 oz. can (If aerosol, cans must have protective caps. See special requirements below.*)
1 Air freshener, 8 or 9 oz. can (If aerosol, cans must have protective caps. See special requirements below.*)
*Special requirements: Put all items in the plastic bucket and seal lid. Please ensure that all cleansing agents are liquids (not powder) and in plastic bottles. All aerosols or flammables: If aerosols are included, do not send the bucket by US mail or DHL/Airborne freight. Ship by UPS ground, FedEx ground, or truck. Pack inside the bucket or strong outer boxes. Put the ORM-D mark on the outside of any buckets or boxes containing these items. Get it at http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/print/kits/orm-d.cfm. Copy and tape on each bucket or box. Boxes cannot exceed 66 lbs. each.

Layette Kit
(Updated: 12/1/2003)

Many women do not have swaddling clothes with which to welcome their child into the world. Layette kits provide basic supplies for their baby's needs.

6 cloth diapers
2 shirts or 2 one-piece body suits
2 baby washcloths
2 gowns or sleepers
2 diaper pins
1 sweater open in the front
2 receiving blankets
Bundle the items inside one of the receiving blankets and secure with the diaper pins.

Value: $35 per kit.
In a separate envelope, please send a check written to UMCOR Sager Brown for at least $1.00 for each kit to help with the costs of processing and shipping kits around the world.

Denise. You are awesome.. I am starting a health kit now. I'll call DH at work and see what the hospital will offer. He may just borrow the stuff. Hey, it's for a good cause!
Thanks for all the info
jen

Wow, Denise, thank you so much for that! I can sew almost everything in the layette bucket! Maybe I will make up a few of those and find the local United Methodist Church.. actually there is one within walking distance to us.. I'll find out if they are collecting. Thankyou!!

I just realized how many of these things can be purchased at the dollar store.
I don't know what products they will need for the care of black hair? Can someone tell me? I think it would be important to add some.
Jen

Here's a great website for info on faith-based charities, and how they work when disaster strikes: http://disasternews.net/howtohelp/

You know, I thought I remembered hearing something negative about the red cross, but I couldnt remember what so I listed my ebay auction to benefit the red cross. I am going to post several more auctions and I think I am going to choose somewhere else each time because as someone else pointed out, when soemthing devistating happens, everyone tends to give to the same charity and the smaller ones get overlooked.

However, I figure Red Cross has the biggest name because everytime there is a disaster they are there. Maybe they arent the best charity, but they are consistant and that has to count for something :)

You know what the neat thing about this? As long as you give-no matter what charity and for what cause. Helping others is what is important. Erika :)

I just realized how many of these things can be purchased at the dollar store.
I don't know what products they will need for the care of black hair? Can someone tell me? I think it would be important to add some.
Jen

Jen - There should be a black hair care section if you live in a diverse area. I am not sure if dollar stores carry it or not. But they just need products specifically made for black hair. Oil, shampoo, conditoner, and lotion (for hair and skin). It's important for black hair to be well moisturized so that it doesn't break. It can be very brittle and the chemicals in other shampoos, etc. can be very harmful. :) HTH

Erika - thanks for that, b/c I donated to the Red Cross and then was sitting here feeling guilty! I had never heard of any negatives about them.

Denise - wow, thanks for that info.!

Dh and I donated a *little* to the Red Cross. We also gathered up stuff around here and took some to our local Salvation Army and some to a dude ranch in town. That woman is hosting 30 people there on her own dime and will be getting up to 30 more. And we got some toiletries. They are on food stamps now but we'ren't able to buy toiletries as their bank funds are frozen and the stamps won't cover it. We have an influx of people coming in, so DH wisely suggested that we give a little as we can. He said this will be a marathon not a sprint and a lot of people will rush to give now but help will be needed for months and months.

We are giving to the United Way (https://volunteer.united-e-way.org/hurricane-katrina/donate/), 100% of donations to UW will go to helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina victims.

My nursing class decided not to donate to RC b/c one of our classmate's dh is on the local board of RC and told us that most of our donation would go toward adimnistrative costs. He said that if we wanted to see our $ go directly to helping the victims then RC was not to organization to donate to.

I chose Operation Blessing to give to. They make all their finances public, and I like that. Personally I also choose to give to a Christian organization, and they focus more on non-cash donations but also accept money. They focus on getting food, etc, and have their fleet of trucks that picks it up and takes it where it's needed.
http://www.ecfa.org/ContentEngine.aspx?PageType=Control&PageName=MemberSubsidiaryProfile&MemberSubsidiaryID=12588
http://www.ob.org or http://www.operationblessing.org

It's always good to give consciously. :heart:

We have donated food to our local lutheran church, though we are UU, because they are loading a semi and going down to the affected area this week.

We also have signed up to foster animals that are homeless after this disaster. If you can, consider doing this, there are thousands of animals that are homeless and need somewhere to call home for while.

Let me throw in, that the United Methodist Committee on Relief (Umcor) is supported by the denomination. NOTHING you give goes to overhead or salaries..

We gave to UMCOR also, for this reason. Also, as the parents of a severely handicapped child with cerebral palsy, we will be making a donation to United Cerebral Palsy Hurricane Katrina Relief fund (http://www.ucp.org/ucp_generaldoc.cfm/1/9/10020/10020-10020/6322) which is set up specifically to help those who are severely disabled.

My parents town in Minnesota flooded a few years back, so they had first hand experience with the Red Cross and Salvation Army, as well as experiencing FEMA first hand. I don't recall the specifics, but I know my dad is now a HUGE supporter of the Salvation Army and thinks the Red Cross is a lot of talk.

Regarding FEMA, we won't even go there!

I donated some through my church....

http://www.lds.org/ldsfoundation/welfare/0,7133,1325-1-9--cWELFAREPOSTER,00.html

we're giving locally via friend of friend type of thing. right now i'm passing on 3yo boy clothing and toys, including our entire FP Little People collection and a bunch of kid videos and a cardboard play house that you draw on with markers and crayons (we've not used).

in a couple weeks, next pay period, we'll be doing some health kits from the kids and will continue to do those for a few more pay periods as the need exists.

at thanksgiving we plan on finding a couple of other local families to co-sponsor a displaced family for thanksgiving dinner (our group of families would supply their meal) and then at christmas we'll sponsor a family for toys in addition to the other holiday giving we already do. (we buy toys for clark howard's toy drive for foster kids here in georgia already).

Just wanted to mention an issue regarding the flood buckets, etc. We have found out that it costs so much to ship these (unless you have someone donating the truck, etc) that if you just donate the amount you would spend to put the bucket together and ship it, they can afford to purchase the products for more buckets. Does that make any sense?

(Our church did this in the past and learned the hard way)

I think I am going to plan on giving directly to an Amitymama affected by this. I can't do much and not until next check, but I would just feel more comfortable knowing it is going to someone in need directly. If no one for some reason is in direct need in a couple of weeks (next pay check)...then I will probably also give locally to try and help the decrease of giving in the direct area around us. There will probably be more people in need because of all the price increases on everything. I hope it is a relatively mild winter this year.

I think I am going to plan on giving directly to an Amitymama affected by this. I can't do much and not until next check, but I would just feel more comfortable knowing it is going to someone in need directly. If no one for some reason is in direct need in a couple of weeks (next pay check)...then I will probably also give locally to try and help the decrease of giving in the direct area around us. There will probably be more people in need because of all the price increases on everything. I hope it is a relatively mild winter this year.

I think that's a great idea! We don't have much to send, but I've got something on the way one of the Amity/MD mama's who lost her home.

One thing you can feel comfortable donating to the Red Cross is blood. Something even us po' folks can give. ;)

I think I am going to plan on giving directly to an Amitymama affected by this. I can't do much and not until next check, but I would just feel more comfortable knowing it is going to someone in need directly. If no one for some reason is in direct need in a couple of weeks (next pay check)...then I will probably also give locally to try and help the decrease of giving in the direct area around us. There will probably be more people in need because of all the price increases on everything. I hope it is a relatively mild winter this year.


That's what I suggested earlier too & was kind of flamed with "how will they get it, they need $ now, etc)". Yet some of the families have access to computers & I'm sure will be able to transfer paypal into accounts with MAC/ATM cards etc.

I feel badly about not trusting the RC but I've seen them do both good & not so good & feel that $ for $ the other organizations do better. RC is very supportive of military families & I appreciate that.

As for blood donations, in NJ the Central NJ Blood Bank actually does better on collecting blood & getting the blood to local hospitals than RC. (My SIL works for the RC on blood drive marketing).

I personally will not donate to the Red Cross either. I chose to donate to Samaritan's Purse (http://www.samaritanspurse.com) instead. It's a non-profit started by Franklin Graham (Billy Graham's son).