Salvation Army
American Red Cross
I want to make another pitch for these organizations. If you can donate $5, it will help a lot and it's as easy as ordering a book on Amazon. Easier, in fact.
We're looking at both the largest natural disaster in US history and the most acute refugee crisis. You can almost think of them as separate, monstrously unmanageable problems. What they have in common is that both will cost a tremendous amount of money.
The Red Cross and Salvation Army have incredible volunteers who are trained and ready to respond to these situations. They will probably bring volunteers from the entire nation to take up missions around the Gulf Coast, and their procedures and experience will save lives and alleviate suffering. We're very lucky in this great country to have well-oiled relief machines like these.
What these machines require to run is money. We're also very lucky that we can help so much by doing nothing more than clicking a few links, entering some information, and donating money electronically. That simple act will translate into targeted and efficient relief for people in desperate and terrifying situations.
You can make donations in someone's name, as a sort of gift, or in memory of people. I made a donation last night in the name of my parents, who lived in Slidell for many years. My parents have since passed away, but my father enjoyed his neighborhood friends who helped make his retirement more satisfying. My Mom worked downtown in the New Orleans VA hospital and loved the people of New Orleans and their traditions, their humor, and their fierce loyalty to one of the world's greatest cities. I came to know many of my mother’s co-workers and you could not help but feel affection for people who loved life as they do.
Whatever reasons you can find to help, they need it.
