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Hurricane
Katrina - Important Suggestions About Making Donations
FEMA - National Donations Steering Committee, September
1, 2005
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The National
Donations Steering Committee composed of voluntary organizations
active in disasters, federal, state and local government
emergency management personnel has developed the following
information for people interested in supporting disaster relief
efforts.
1) Financial Contributions are Often the Best Kind of
Donations to Make
Providing a financial contribution to a voluntary agency
involved in disaster relief is often the most sensible and the
most efficient way of helping the people in need after a
disaster. There are several voluntary agencies with considerable
disaster relief experience. These organizations have disaster
skills in many areas such as disaster needs assessment, disaster
clean-up, mass feeding, mass shelter, first aid, disaster
counseling, pastoral care, child-care, home repair, family
casework, meeting "unmet needs" and many other areas. When the
public supports these organizations with financial contributions
it helps ensure a steady flow of important services to the
people in need after a disaster.
Cash contributions to voluntary agencies also make sense for
other reasons. The voluntary agency will often spend the money
in the local disaster area thus helping the local economy get
back on its feet. Cash donations rather than unsolicited donated
goods avoid the complicated, costly and time-consuming process
of collecting, sorting, packing, transporting, unloading,
resorting, storing, repackaging, and distributing the goods.
Cash donations to voluntary agencies help meet peoples' needs
more precisely as the voluntary agency is in a better position
to purchase what the people need or can provide vouchers for
people to purchase what they need. Cash donations to recognized
relief organizations are also tax deductible.
2) Used Clothing is Rarely a Useful Item to Collect for
Disaster Relief
Used clothing is rarely a useful item to collect and send into
the disaster area because it is hard to clean, sort, pack,
transport, store, and distribute. Mounds of clothing take up
valuable warehouse space and frequently end up being discarded.
Constructive things to do with used clothing are to have a
yard-sale to raise money for the disaster relief organizations
that provide goods and services that the disaster survivors
really need. Used clothing and other small items can also be
donated locally to help community-based organizations in the
local area.
3) Confirm the Need Before Beginning a Collection of Donated
Goods
The most effective way the public can assist is to support the
experienced disaster relief organizations with either financial
contributions or in-kind goods and services that the
organizations report are needed. Many of the experienced
voluntary agencies involved in disaster relief have toll-free
numbers for the public to call in order to learn what kind of
donated goods might be needed in the disaster area. Often, when
large-scale disasters occur in a State, that State's Office of
Emergency Management, working closely with the voluntary
agencies, will establish a toll-free Donations Coordination
Hotline for the public to call in order to find out what donated
goods and services are needed, if any.
It is often a mistake to assume what is needed in a disaster.
Over the years, there has been considerable waste of countless
tons of clothing because it was collected and sent with no prior
coordination. Try to get more precise information before
collecting any donated goods.
4) Donate Goods Through an Organization
It is never a good idea to collect goods for disaster relief
without a firm plan in place that confirms the goods are needed
and addresses which groups will receive the goods, how they will
be transported, and how the goods will be distributed.
Experienced disaster relief organizations base their disaster
relief activities on overall disaster situation assessments and
detailed needs assessments.
Many relief groups, if interested in the donated goods, have
some infrastructure in place to store and distribute the goods.
Coordination with the relief group is essential so that the
right goods are collected, the right amount is collected, and
that the logistics issues of transportation, warehouse and
staging area coordination, and distribution are fully discussed.
Donors will find that it is often most practical to focus on one
or two items that an organization says is needed rather than
collect a variety of items.
5) Transportation Must Be Planned in Advance
Transportation is frequently a major challenge for donors. It
must be planned in advance otherwise a donor can easily be stuck
with large amounts of donated goods and no means to bring it to
the recipient agency in the disaster area.
Do not assume unsolicited relief supplies will be transported at
no charge or at government expense. The donor has the primary
responsibility to find transportation for the donated goods.
Local trucking firms may be willing to help in times of
disaster, if funds are available to cover part of the expense.
Often, donors raise money themselves to put towards the
transportation of the donated supplies.
6) Donated Goods must be Well Packed and Labeled
After confirming that the goods are needed and there is a plan
to receive, store, and distribute them, be sure that the goods
are properly sorted, packaged and labeled. If unsure, discuss
these steps with an experienced disaster relief organization.
Specific content lists should be taped to the side of each box
sent. This allows the receiving officials to determine what is
in the box without opening it, and gets it to the proper
distribution location in a timely manner. Put yourself in the
shoes of the person on the receiving end of the shipment and
think about making the unloading, unpacking, warehousing, and
distribution as simple as possible.
For more information from FEMA please see
www.fema.gov.
Other information about preparing your home or business in the
event of a disaster is available on the Michigan Association of
United Ways' website at
www.uwmich.org. Click on "Disaster Preparedness".
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