S1997

Maybe this will go through:

tof

Welcome to the new normal, Jim. For awhile anyway.

tof

Bump on Harvey. Lets not forget Houston while we become more concerned about Florida.

Did Jim and Chris get to go on their trip? How is his daughter doing?

MsPerky

^ See his post in the Weekend thread.

Conedodger

I've been waiting on donating.

Good news! Work just announced a company match on donations for Harvey and Irma.
Bad news? It is through the Red Cross.

MsPerky

I saw a report from a woman who headed the Red Cross (or some big charity) and was in charge of organizing donations. She said you would not believe the things people "give". Totally inappropriate items like winter coats for a southern climate. Probably the most mindboggling item I heard was used teabags!! The idea being you can get more than one cup of tea from a bag. People just do not like giving money. They like giving things. But money is what the charities need so they can buy items that are appropriate, in the right quantities, and time the purchases. The bottom line is, GIVE MONEY!!!

S2KRAY

I agree, but my money is not going to the Red Cross

dlq04

That's probably the same report I saw about a week ago. The one item that stuck in my mind was giving high heels.

MsPerky

When I'm not giving locally, I do use Charity Navigator (charitynavigator.org) to research any charity I'm considering.

tof

Money works really well, much better than "stuff". A couple of weeks after Katrina there was a 15 foot high pile of clothing in a shopping center parking lot here in Long Beach. It ended up in landfill along with hurricane debris. Just too much that could not be used. Some charities are delivering gift cards and prepaid debit cards to victims. Now THAT is an ideal gift, so individuals can get what they need.

Here is a link to a really good Forbes article on ways to help hurricane victims, along with some nice stories of ways organizations are helping.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyph.../#1b14d7dc3c79