Around the country right now people are struggling to recover from the recent disasters while others are trying to figure out how they can support the relief efforts. A friend of mine recently put together a well-written, well-researched piece on how people can help and I wanted to share it with everyone else who is trying to do their part right now.
To my Friends and Family:
I’ll keep this as brief as possible.
Its difficult and time-consuming to figure out how best to donate our dollars and/or time in an impactful way. Best intentions can easily go to waste, or worse, to fraudsters.
In light of the Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, I’ve attempted to tackle this question:
What is the most impactful way I can alleviate the suffering caused by hurricanes?
This is what I found:
- In the immediate aftermath of an event, THERE IS USUALLY A GREATER NEED FOR MONEY THAN FOR VOLUNTEER HOURS.
- There are many meaningful, needy, and impactful places to give your money.
- If you don’t have a specific cause that you believe strongly in, but still want to help, donating to a respected and established fund is probably the best course of action.
If you would like to donate ASAP, these are some funds that I would recommend:
- Center for Disaster Philanthropy
- Greater Houston Community Foundation
- Global Giving Hurricane Irma Relief Fund
These are the causes that I donated to personally:
Local:
- Houston Food Bank (Houston’s local food bank)
- Houston SPCA (shelter for animals in Houston)
National:
- Direct Relief International (distributing emergency health kits)
- Save the Children (providing on the ground relief for children and future funding for child centers)
If you want to volunteer, this will be a huge help, though likely more so in the coming months (and years):
- VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster): https://voad.communityos.org/disaster-volunteer-registration
- Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/volunteer-interest-form
- Volunteer Florida: https://www.volunteerflorida.org/irma/
Please feel free to share this post with anyone who may be interested in supporting these efforts, and remember, everything helps.
