Hurricane Harvey

If you want to help with a donation, here are a few website links of legitimate charities.

Red Cross Hurricane Harvey donation:

https://www.redcross.org/donate/hurricane-harvey

Red Cross General donation:

http://www.redcross.org/donations/ways-to-donate

Red Cross Health or mental health volunteer

http://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/lp/hurricane-harvey-health-professionals 

Salvation Army-all donations:

https://give.salvationarmyusa.org/site/Donation2?df_id=27651&mfc_pref=T&27651.donation=form1

 NVOAD National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (tweeted by FEMA director for legitimate donation)

https://www.nvoad.org/hurricane-harvey/hurricane-harvey-how-to-help/

Unless you are on the scene to distribute articles to donate (food,clothing,housing, etc), all the organizations say that money is best right now.

Also, there are often so many scammers that pop up during these disasters so please post only charities links or groups that are legitimate. And if you donate, make sure the charity is legitimate.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone experiencing this terrible disaster. As it unfolds, let's all try and do something that will help those in it or those helping those in the midst.

Thanks, leslieruf for starting this.

Not agree with the Red Cross. Very little if any will go to Harvey victims.

The red cross would be the last place I would donate to. I know of a group you can check out for yourself. I have worked along side them and the are doing good things. www.mercychefs.com

hugs & prayers for the people in the path of hurricane harvey.

i would not donate to the red cross because i have had too many people tell me that the money goes more to the organization than the people in need.

i would give to the salvation army. they seem to do a better job. I've never heard of mercy chefs but i will check them out.

another organization that does help people in need is habitat for humanity.

claudia

http://www.avmf.org/  American Veterinary Foundation--they help animals and veterinarians in disaster areas, as well as doing many other good things.

91% of the money donated goes to the programs they support.  Meaning, a total of 4% covers administrative costs.  A low percentage, when you think about it, goes towards salaries and other stuff.  

This means that when you donate to the American Red Cross, they get to choose where to spend your money, and they might not spend all it for Hurricane Harvey victims.

This does not mean the ARC is a bad charity, it is an excellent one.  But if you want to give 100% of your money specifically to the Hurricane Harvey victims, then the ARC is not your best choice.

However, regarding total good an positive results, the ARC is wonderful. You see their emblem almost immediately in the pictures and footage.  They are highly organized and have systems in place for getting the correct supplies to the designated site quickly.

So, when questions on NPR, the ARC was not able to say exactly what percent of donated money went to Sandy victims, or other specific locations. This does not mean the money went to high salaries.  It does mean that the money went into a large pool, and from there went to a number of places.

This information is verifiable through various organizations.  I got the above information from Charity Navigator.

Just say'n.

Please keep this post focused on helping and not a discussion of  do's/don'ts on charities. My comment on vetting a charity was just a precautionary statement to be mindful of where you give. There are so many charlatans that come out of the woodwork at these times and their websites can be lovely.

I did not intend to start a discussion on the merits/demerits of any one particular charity. Please don't hijack this post into such discussion.  By all means, give to where you believe is best and let others do the same.

Than you, the hadster, for the info on how to check out charities. Here is a link for Charity Navigator:

https://www.charitynavigator.org/

Red Cross operates but I know that I trust the Canadian chapter.  The charities I trust the least are the ones flaunting religious affiliation.

Gerhard