Monday, March 14, 2011

Links to aid organizations.

I did some really simple math.  There are over 14 million people in my network on LinkedIn.  (Not people who know me.  That's people within 3 degrees of me.)  If everyone in that network were to average donating just $25 to some organization to help the recovery efforts in Japan, over $350 million could be raised.  That means some folks would need to give considerably more than $25, because a lot of folks either are focused on other needs, or simply lack the means right now to give anything.

I was just watching the news today though and they are saying that it will take generations to recover from some of the damage that has been done there.

Here are some links I have found of organizations that are working to help with the relief efforts:

Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/
World Vision: http://www.redcross.org/
Doctors Without Borders: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
Samaritan's Purse: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/
Save The Children: http://www.savethechildren.org/
Mercy Corps: http://www.mercycorps.org/

I will probably add to this list in the coming days.  For example, the link to the Japanese Red Cross is currently down, undoubtedly because of infrastructure issues over there are this time.

Also, here is a link to a brief article about avoiding donation fraud. https://blogs.msdn.com/b/securitytipstalk/archive/2011/03/11/earthquake-in-japan-how-to-help-and-avoid-donation-fraud.aspx

To my knowledge, most of these organizations are focused on immediate and short term needs.  I'm considering trying to set up a fund to help with long term rebuilding needs, but that may be more than I can manage right now.  At the very least, if any of you know of such funds, please comment and I'll edit and note the links once I have verified them.

3/16: Heard yesterday about a very creative charity that's providing emergency shelter for displaced victims in Japan: http://www.shelterbox.org/