Katrina: Money to Charity, or someone you know?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I am very cynical about charities, and my heart sinks every time someone I know talks about sending some money to a charity down there. I know some people working on the ground in the Gulf. One guy is removing trees that fell on people’s houses with his chainsaw. They aren’t being allowed to return to their neighborhood for 3-6 months. They have a paypal donations system setup and he’s organizing people there on the ground.

Now to me it seems like in this highly networked age, we’d all know more people on the ground, and not need to send the money through some faceless organization, no matter how well researched the organization is.

Now I’m not trying to make people feel guilty about sending money to charities, help in whatever way makes you feel right about it.

I would like to know how many of you were able to help through people you have a relationship with, or just sent it to some organization you have no personal connection to?

Erek

2

Erek,

Cool name by the way.

This is bad, but I work for a charity - and I much recommend sending it directly to someone you know.

HOWEVER - charities that do research? Definitely send them money, if you can, because they are trying to prevent the causes of whatever it is.

And always, do your homework. Learn about the charity before you give.

3

When I referred to research, I meant research being done by the sender of the charity being sent to.

I do work with lots of non-profits, and I think that non-profits are great systems. My issue is more with an impersonal approach to life. I think it’s this impersonal approach that is the cause of failures such as the reaction to Katrina. People depend upon this entity that has very little emotional attachment to them or their situation, and then get supremely hurt when it doesn’t work for them the way they had hoped. I hope if anything that this changes is the suburban/urban culture we have where people have little to no community in their local area. Me, I have a lot of community, I know a lot of people, and have a decent number of good friends, and my network extends across the country. So I’m ok, but I don’t like sending my energy into a blackhole, I like for everything I do to establish a relationship in some way. I think this makes for a stronger, more healthy society.

I mean, if I knew people personally at one of the charities helping down there, then I’d be more than happy to help that charity.

Erek
(Thanks for the compliment your name is cool as well)