Moral Issue

[ABQCOWBOY]

I'm kind of torn here guys. My employer has asked us all to donate what we can to the Haitian relief effort and I can clearly see that they need help.

My issue with this is that we have given so much in the past to Haiti, only to have it go elsewhere and never see the intended recipients. I don't know if I should make a donation or not. I am affraid that it will simply go elsewhere.

 

[cajuncocoa]

My two cents:

Find a reputable charity that you can trust that is collecting for the relief fund.

If they misuse the funds, it's on them. At least you know you tried to do the right thing.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Always do what you feel led to do. If you don't feel led to do it, then don't, and you shouldn't feel guilty about it.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

ABQ- The Red Cross is always a safe bet IMO.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

Always do what you feel led to do. If you don't feel led to do it, then don't, and you shouldn't feel guilty about it.

/\
Agree 100%

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

My two cents:

Find a reputable charity that you can trust that is collecting for the relief fund.

If they misuse the funds, it's on them. At least you know you tried to do the right thing.

I don't know what group that would be.

The problem is, it's not just about "I've done my part". If you give money and it goes to the wrong hands, you end up funding thugs and criminals on things like drug efforts or what have you. This has been going on in Haiti for many, many years. I think I will donate but I don't know exactly where I will donate.

 

[ShiningStar]

save your money, you will never get the full price tag on the relief we are giving, since when most politicians give, its other peoples money, but rest assured when all said and done some of those Haitians will be living much much better than some Americans here.

At the end of the day you will still need to pay your bills.

 

[cajuncocoa]

I don't know what group that would be.

The problem is, it's not just about "I've done my part". If you give money and it goes to the wrong hands, you end up funding thugs and criminals on things like drug efforts or what have you. This has been going on in Haiti for many, many years. I think I will donate but I don't know exactly where I will donate.

Good point.

That just makes a bad situation worse over there.

 

[bbgun]

ABQ- The Red Cross is always a safe bet IMO.

As is Catholic Charities.

 

[DIAF]

save your money, you will never get the full price tag on the relief we are giving, since when most politicians give, its other peoples money, but rest assured when all said and done some of those Haitians will be living much much better than some Americans here.

At the end of the day you will still need to pay your bills.

What a load of garbage. Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.

ABQ; just give whatever if you feel like you should. Yeah, your money probably won't go directly to Haitian aid, those aid agencies have to pay salaries and everything else like everyone else, but if no one donated because of that then no money would ever go anywhere for relief efforts. Just look at it this way; you are donating to a pool that aid agencies use to keep operating. That's how I see it when I give to charity.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

As is Catholic Charities.

Yup. Besides, if anything gets questionable, there's always a good whack on the knuckles to straighten things out.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

"As much as you can"

That is pretty vague. Maybe a dollar is all you can do. Times are tight.

The money ain't going to get there, anyway.

These institutions will use a lot for their bloated overhead and salaries.

 

[ShiningStar]

What a load of garbage. Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.

ABQ; just give whatever if you feel like you should. Yeah, your money probably won't go directly to Haitian aid, those aid agencies have to pay salaries and everything else like everyone else, but if no one donated because of that then no money would ever go anywhere for relief efforts. Just look at it this way; you are donating to a pool that aid agencies use to keep operating. That's how I see it when I give to charity.

thats true, and the scams that will be run not just by americans, and even if some haitians get a house, or money out of the deal they are better off than they were before, MUCH better off.

To most it will be a lottery, to some it will be death, and some a slow painful death, but its still another nations problem and we have ours.

 

[Maikeru-sama]

First, I don't think your employer should be asking people to give what they can.

You have to be living under a rock to not know what is going on in Haiti and each individual should be prompted by their own compassion to donate.

I would have been extremely irritated if the leadership in my company would have called a meeting to inform us to give what we can.

Anyway, as others have said, the best bet seems to be the Red Cross and even the donation link on the The White House Website points to the Red Cross.

And like I said earlier, I hope the United States Government will reimburse the cities in Florida where the Haitians will go because just like the City I work for, Municipal Budgets are extremely tight.

 

[poke]

this is a pretty good list


The American Red Cross: 1-800-REDCROSS, or in Spanish, 1-800-257-7575 or online at www.redcross.org
The Salvation Army: 1-800-SAL-ARMY or www.salvationarmyusa.org or by mail at The Salvation Army World Service Office, International Disaster Relief Fund, P.O. Box 630728 Baltimore, MD 21263-0728 or to your local Salvation Army Corps.
International Rescue Committee: www.theirc.org
National Nurses United seeks nurse volunteers at www.nationalnursesunited.org
Doctors Without Borders: donate.doctorswithoutborders.org
Catholic Relief Services: www.crs.org
American Jewish World Services: ajws.org or (212) 792-2900
Haitian Education Project: haitianeducationproject@saintleo.edu or 800-334-5532
AT&T Wireless customers can donate $10 to Red Cross International by texting HAITI to 90999
Buckner International, a global ministry to orphans, vulnerable children and families, is providing humanitarian aid to earthquake victims in Haiti and is seeking cash donations to cover the cost of shipping for four containers (est. cost $5,000 each):
www.buckner.org

I saw on the news that the doctors without borders already has some temporary tent hospitals up, just need more doctors there

 

[Danny White]

As some of you know, my company does fundraising consulting.

When this tragedy occurred, our online division identified a solid charity that does work specifically in Haiti. They're not a mega-charity, they're a small group that works directly on the ground person-to-person in Haiti.

Anyway, we contacted them and volunteered our services. In less than two days we have helped them raise close to $40,000.

Again, we are volunteering our services for this, so I'm not making any money by directing you here.

Check them out for yourself, and if you think they look worthwhile, I encourage you to give them a token of support:

http://www.haitifoundation.com/

 

[Temo]

Hard to go wrong with Red Cross or Doctors without Borders.

 

[CowboyWay]

ABQ- The Red Cross is always a safe bet IMO.

Not really.

I remember back during 9/11 when so many people gave so much to the Red Cross. The RC never got so much money at once, and it was supposed to go directly to the families of the victims. But a few months later, they found out that the RC kept back a ton of the money.

When questioned about this the RC said that they held some back because they knew they would need it for other disasters, and people never seemed to give for those things, but because so many people gave for 9/11, they felt it best to hold some back for the 'next incident".

This really ticked me off, because the money I gave, I wanted it to go to the families of 9/11. If you can't trust the RC, who can you trust? I haven't given any money to them since.

 

[ShiningStar]

Not really.

I remember back during 9/11 when so many people gave so much to the Red Cross. The RC never got so much money at once, and it was supposed to go directly to the families of the victims. But a few months later, they found out that the RC kept back a ton of the money.

When questioned about this the RC said that they held some back because they knew they would need it for other disasters, and people never seemed to give for those things, but because so many people gave for 9/11, they felt it best to hold some back for the 'next incident".

This really ticked me off, because the money I gave, I wanted it to go to the families of 9/11. If you can't trust the RC, who can you trust? I haven't given any money to them since.

The RC was also under fire for buying that blood machine, while needing it and it would be useful, wrong time to buy it.

 

[TheCount]

If you don't feel safe donating the money then consider donating your time.