On Fri, 2 Sep 2005 16:40:26 -0400 in Diana Kulaga wrote:
What are YOU doing for the victims of Katrina?

See Rob Halgren's earlier post; the subject line is Hurricane relief and a
plant to boot. His is a good idea.

We've sent a check to www.stormaid.com . It's run by [Horrid radio
conglomerate], so it's legit; there are lots of scams out there. Sending
supplies is always tetchy unless the problem is local, where you know what
to send and where to send it.

Okay, I'm entirely too much the cynic but...

You just provided free advertising for a group that does an awful lot of
advertising.
While their overhead costs should actually be lower (Zero) than those for
American Red Cross or even a local food bank, odds are the money is
going to American Red Cross.

I know the concept of extended family is dieing, but if you have 2nd or
3rd cousins along the gulf, send directly to them even if your side
of the family has been feuding with that side of the family for
longer than you've been alive.
Find a place that's been thoroughly shredded that hasn't been getting the
news coverage new orleans has.
Find out what union workers at the shutdown refineries belong to. Ask
those unions what towns you should donate to.
Find a place that did everything right to handle the hurricane but got
pasted anyways.
Find out where the non-neworleans refugees are going to...

Make it personal. Make it a tragedy. Avoid turning it into a statistic.
Sure you'll make mistakes, but no worse than the political BS that's
been flying already.

And as for avoiding scams, it isn't 100% possible, but if they were in
the phonebook and are a standard organization like salvation army,
good will, habitat for humanity, food bank...
--
Chris Dukes
Suspicion breeds confidence -- Brazil