The Truth:
There are scammers who come to life during a
time of disaster and who will try to trick us into giving money to them
instead of worthy relief organizations and who will, as well, try to get
our personal financial information for identity theft.
Here are some
important things to keep in mind:
1. Do not respond to
any email appeals for funds no matter who they appear to be from. If you
get an email that seems to be from the Red Cross, for example, don't
assume that it really is. The scammers are able to put a link into the
email that appears to be going to the Red Cross but in reality is
linking to one of their own sites.
Other appeals will
appear to be from particular individuals who are claiming to be victims
of the disaster and asking for direct donations but who, in reality, are
not.
2. Do not respond to
any phone solicitations for the same reason. You do not know whether the
people calling are really giving the funds to the organizations they
claim to represent or whether your credit card information is being
given to a trusted source.
3. The way to make a
donation is to go directly to the official web site of any organizations
you trust or to call them on the phone directly. If there are relief
organizations that you know and trust, just do a web search such as
through www.google.com and find that group's official web site to make
your contribution.
4. Avoid responding to
requests for donations of clothing, tents, diapers, medicine, water, or
food that are being collected to be sent to Haiti. Even if the effort is
sincere, the chances of the goods getting there are very small. It is
better to donate to relief organizations that are already there and
buying and shipping such goods in bulk. Well meaning campaigns to
collect goods to be sent to a disasater area usually result in
warehouses full of things that never get there. Getting transportation
of the goods is very difficult and then ensuring that even if they
arrive that they won't fall into the hands of corrupt government
officials, black marketers, or thieves is very difficult.
There are numerous good relief organizations, but here are some examples
if you would like to make donations that you know will be helping the
people of Haiti:
The American Red Cross
World Vision
Mercy Corps has teams on the
ground in Haiti
Mission Aviation Fellowship has
operated in Haiti for decades and provides air transportation for relief
teams and supplies.
Samaritan's Purse has
operations in Haiti
UNICEF is focused on relief
activities for children in Haiti
Catholic Charities
Salvation Army
updated 01/15/10
