Oct 20, 2024
By Rick McNary
I’ve been involved in providing hunger relief for domestic and international crises for more than 20 years, so I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly of disaster relief.
Therefore, I have a few practical tips to give if you want to help the survivors of the hurricanes.
How to give
If you are compelled to give financially, here are questions to ask.
Is this group trustworthy?
If you ever have questions about any nonprofit trying to raise money, you can go to www.guidestar.org, set up an account and search for that nonprofit. When there, look for the IRS 990. They are required to file that form each year and it tells you where their money comes from, how they spend the money they receive, how much money their top dogs make and more. You can also go to www.charitynavigator.org and find how they rate that organization.
Do they have boots on the ground on location to use your resources wisely?
Sadly, some groups will collect donations that do not have any practical presence or experience in assisting.
If you want to give goods, rather than money, here are some suggestions.
- Again, is it trustworthy and are their boots on the ground to deliver?
- Give what they have listed as needs. A truckload of unnecessary items does nothing but add more problems to the people trying to help. Like the container of winter coats sent to Haiti after the earthquake in 2010; not much use in the tropics.
- Give the good stuff. Sometimes, people use disasters to clean their closets of unwanted clothes, old shoes or broken equipment and tools. Please don’t be that person. Give your best stuff.
Who to give to
The “git’ er done” folks
These are the unofficial, often unorganized, but highly effective people such as the Cajun Navy during hurricane Katrina in 2005. More than 400 individuals arrived with their boats and rescued more than 10,000 people. They are locals who care, often have family impacted and are extremely effective.
I was once working in Ohio when I saw another group of farmers do the same thing in response to fires in Ashland. I was visiting with a journalist who said she was going to the western border of Ohio the next day to work on the most inspirational story in her 40-year career as she was meeting with a convoy of 50 semitrucks filled with farm supplies from every corner of the state. There was hay, fencing, panels, medicines and everything farmers and ranchers impacted in Kansas would need.
There are two county Farm Bureaus in Kansas, Riley and Wallace, who are collecting supplies to send to trusted, on-the-ground partners in the south. Between Farm Bureau and FFA, they will be sending those needed goods to the people in those networks.
In addition, the national Farm Bureau has a webpage set up, https://www.fb.org/issue/hurricane-helene.
The rest I’ll offer are trusted organizations I have personally worked with both in the U.S. and internationally.
The Salvation Army – “Doing the Most Good”
During the Haiti earthquake, I had the privilege of partnering with an organization I had founded called Numana with The Salvation Army to engage more than 120,000 of their volunteers in various cities across America to package more than 20 million nutrient-dense, shelf-stable food for relief. I fell in love with the hearts of their leaders, who live at poverty-level wages and truly do the most good.
Convoy of Hope
Providing aid since 1994, Convoy of Hope is involved with helping those impacted by Helene and Milton.
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America announced the establishment of the National Hurricane Relief Fund to raise money “for the immediate needs of those affected by the recent Hurricane Helene and who are now in the path of Hurricane Milton.”
Catholic Charities USA
As the official domestic disaster relief agency of the Catholic Church in the U.S., the charity said it has “launched a dedicated Helene disaster relief campaign. All donations received for disaster aid will be allocated to the Catholic Charities agencies providing critical relief — including shelter, food and other humanitarian aid — to those most in need.”
Samaritan’s Purse
The Christian charity is no stranger to reducing tremendous suffering and damage in communities all over the world. After Helene tore through much of the South — including the group’s headquarters in Boone, N.C. — Samaritan’s Purse organizers had to find a way to help others as well as themselves.
As the survivors, and the groups trying to bring aid, work through the five stages of rescue, recovery, reentry, reconstruction, and rehabilitation, they will rely heavily on the good will of donors around the world who are moved to help but want to make sure their resources are used wisely.