I'm also looking for one. Which is the most reputable one?

As with any charity, never 100% will get to the destination. They have to substract fees and stuff. I think a good charity will try to get about 80% to the final destination.

I don't have much, but wouldn't mind donating like 50 bucks or so.

 

I just donated some to www.afsc.org and the red cross.

 

If you want the money to go to the people who need it, history tells that faith based organizations are the best to donate to. The International Red Cross is not the same as the Red Cross in the US.



Red Cross sorry for misleading fund-raising
May 23 2003

The Red Cross has apologised to victims of the Bali bombing and donors to its fund-raising campaign for misleading them over where the money would be spent.

The move came as the Federal Government began contacting people who lost limbs in the bombing to reassure them they would not face any out of pocket health expenses in obtaining artificial limbs.

This followed revelations in The Age that only about $4 million of the $14.3 million collected had so far reached victims, and that three ambulances it said had been delivered to Bali last month had not arrived.

A spokeswoman for the federal Health Department, Kay McNiece, said the health costs of Bali victims that were not covered by other means - such as Medicare or private health insurance - would be met by the Government.

The Red Cross said it acknowledged that "communications relating to the Bali appeal" may have caused confusion, giving donors the impression that 90 per cent of the $14.3 million raised would be provided directly to victims.

"The Red Cross is deeply concerned about and regrets any confusion and any distress caused to victims or donors," secretary-general Martine Letts said in a statement.

"Our intention was never to mislead those who donated so generously to the fund and we are deeply regretful.

"The message we wanted to convey to the public, who gave so generously to the appeal, was that we would keep administration costs under 10 per cent of total funds raised."

The Red Cross yesterday released a breakdown of how the money would be spent showing that almost 70 per cent of the money would go directly to Australian victims. Ms Letts said administration costs had so far been kept to less than 3 per cent - or about $400,000.

Ms Letts blamed the Indonesian manufacturer for the ambulance fiasco, which was part of a public relations exercise that marked the sixth-month anniversary of the tragedy.

She said the public hand-over of one ambulance was "in keeping with the spirit of the appeal" even though the vehicle was sent straight back to the factory after the television cameras left. The two other ambulances had not left Jakarta. She said the manufacturer had said the vehicles would be delivered by the end of the month.

Melbourne man Barry Huguenin, whose daughter Lynley received burns to 30 per cent of her body, said the affair had left a bitter taste in the mouths of victims. "I haven't got a lot of sympathy for the organisation. I think if it was to go belly up in Australia there are plenty of other organisations that will step into its place," he said.

But Melbourne woman Nicole McLean, the last person pulled out alive after the explosion in Paddy's Bar, said the Government's reassurance had ended months of uncertainty.

Ms McLean said she had been "living in limbo land", hoping that the Government or an aid agency would pick up the $65,000 bill for an artificial arm.

Frustrated with endless delays, Ms Mclean spoke out in The Age last Saturday.

The Red Cross contacted her on Monday to say the Federal Government would pay the entire cost of a prosthetic arm.

Ms McNiece, the department spokeswoman, said yesterday: "If your public hospital only covers a basic model (prosthesis) and you want a better model or there are any gaps, then the Commonwealth will cover all those expenses."

She said any victims who rang Centrelink would have known they would not be out of pocket for medical expenses. "But back then they may have been so ill they didn't hear about it."

Ms McLean, the victim, said: "At the end of day I'm just glad that someone's paying for the arm. It's good that something has come out of the article."

Ms McLean, who had criticised the Red Cross for funding skin research when victims were still in need, said she was pleased the organisation had apologised.

"People that haven't been happy with their services obviously won't go through them again, but I accept their apology and I'm glad I'm being looked after."

 

List here:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...&f=86&t=258116

 

When I logged onto the internet this morning I saw that Yahoo! has a toolbar on their homepage with five charities to which you can donate for disaster relief. The internet is becoming an incredible tool in this effort. Please make a donation.

 

BUMP. Yes please do donate some $$$. I know we are are blessed with hot rides and all. Lets consider the less fortunate.

 

I will be sending some funds over, however even if you can only afford to send prayers I'm sure thats enough.

 

I'm apprehensive about how charities use the money donated to them, the article posted here and the 9/11 fiasco was enough for me to never give to a charity again. Too bad you can't just get in contact with an individual and help them, at least I could interview where my money goes to. I'm sure then I would do far more, knowing who I'm helping

I'll have to rely on the US goverment to make my contribution for me since I have no choice in the matter anyway.

 

I know how you feel, however, things are not as bad as they might seem.

Don't let one time screw-up of one charity keep you from donating to other charities, or even to Red Cross - since they at least acknowledged the problem and took some steps to keep it from happening again.

It would be great if we could help an individual directly but its just not possible so you gotta trust someone else.

Since I donated to UNICEF, I have heard news reports that confirm that UNICEF is already in action over in these countries. Makes me feel better.

In the end, you can never be 100% sure.

 

isn't 2 billion dollars enough? i wonder how much of that is gonna be squandered away.