Comments on: Stray Bits

By: Claire

Claire — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 01:54:42 +0000

Darfur, perhaps via MSF

By: jif

jif — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 17:26:04 +0000

Doctors without borders. Good medical care is always in demand, and they have a very low overhead cost- most of the money goes straight to projects rather than mailings and office space and such.

By: Martial

Martial — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 15:48:09 +0000

How could I forget CARE Sri Lanka? They have nearly fifty years experience in Sri Lanka and are one of the best agencies in that country, both for disaster relief and for development. They also work closely with local NGOs. Nonviolence International’s office in Banda Aceh was destroyed. Still, they are hard at work and they will make sure funds get to the grassroots level.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 04:25:44 +0000

Oxfam gets my vote. Here’s a press release from last month with a very simple point worth keeping in mind.

By: Martial

Martial — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 01:58:43 +0000

You should always give to the general fund of an organization in any case. NGOs really do spend the money they raise in the place (and on the place) you’ve earmarked. Their auditors demand it. And more than enough has been raised for tsunami relief. MSF has explicitly asked that people stop giving them money for tsunami relief (they raised over $40 million). AFSC has raised over $3 million and they currently have no capacity in the region to spend that much (I’ve been talking to people there and they’ve had to pull people off of other work just to open the envelopes!; if you’re reading this and in Philadelphia, go down and volunteer). Oxfam is always worthy. IRC is a good choice. UNICEF does good work. Mercy Corps is one of the best at the transition from relief to development. Danish Refugee Council does a good job in reconstruction. I should add that the need for medical services in the wake of the tsunami was vastly overrated. Some of the resources sent to the region haven’t even been taken off the ships because there just isn’t anything to do with them.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 00:42:23 +0000

I would also say medicines sans frontiers – except that they also said (on Jan 4) that they had as much money for Tsunami relief as they could spend, given that they were limited by the number of experienced medics they could send. (http://www.msf.org/countries/page.cfm?articleid=1F31BDDD-6840-4368-AC061BF061867501) This, of course, makes me much more likely to support them in the future…

By: jholbo

jholbo — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 15:58:40 +0000

I just noticed that the US Red Cross is still taking specifically tsunami relief-targetted donations. Through Amazon, for example. (I thought that had stopped.) Having pledged tsunami relief in particular, and having induced people to buy through me towards that end, I do feel some obligation to pursue my original course unless there is some reason to think the charitable world is presently glutted on this front and greater good can be secured elsewhere. Opinions about US Red Cross? (I gave to the Singapore Red Cross because they have local knowledge and appeared to have generally sound relief plans.)

By: Syd Webb

Syd Webb — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 14:06:53 +0000

So who should I give to, do you think? Oxfam general fund? Ken oath, John. I mean, “yes”.

By: jholbo

jholbo — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 12:56:35 +0000

Your idea has merit, Doug, but having pledged tsunami relief, I think comic book legal defense would constitute something of a dishonorable abandonment of my pledge. Alas for the sake of a noble cause.

By: tony

tony — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 11:44:34 +0000

I’d like to recommend GOAL the Irish based third world development organisation

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 11:16:18 +0000

Or why not something deliberately obscure, but reasonably in lines with your interests, like the Science Fiction Writers of America’s Medical Fund? Comic Books Legal Defense Fund? Or something tsunami-related, like whatever funding there is for the warning system? Or any charity supported by Arthur C. Clarke?

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 11:15:23 +0000

By: Bill Gardner

Bill Gardner — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 20:36:11 +0000

Medicins sans frontieres.

By: Bill Gardner

Bill Gardner — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 20:33:11 +0000

Medicins sans frontieres.

By: miriam

miriam — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 20:30:03 +0000

Give to the International Rescue Committee at http://www.theirc.org. They have a very high rating in terms of charities. They help refugees around the world.