Wednesday, September 14, 2005

You Can Still Help . . .

. . . with recovery efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims. If you want to donate money, some charities you can trust are;

The American Red Cross
ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency)
The Salvation Army
Feed The Children
The USA Freedom Corps
The United Way

If you're interested in opening your home to evacuees;

Hurricane Housing
Open Heart, Open Home

A few things to remeber:

1: Never respond to unsolicited emails asking for money. These ARE scams. Even if it looks authentic, the Red Cross and other charitable organizations never send emails asking for money. If you want to donate, just go to the home page for Red Cross, etc., and go from there.
2: Don't go to public message boards looking to house evacuees. Don't answer an email saying "I'm from the coast, am homeless, could you send your personal info" etc. This is very dangerous.
3: If you're a kid and go with your parents to volunteer at a shelter, stay with them. I am sure that the vast majority of people living in shelters are peaceful, law-abiding citizens, but there is no way to be completely sure, so just be careful.
4: If a shelter in your area is asking for non-monetary donations, make sure you call to ask what is needed before you go. Also, I am pretty sure that most shelters have all the supplies they need.

Here is an extended list of charities and other information about relief.

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