|
FEMA PRESS RELEASE
Cash
Sought To Help Hurricane Victims, Volunteers Should Not Self-Dispatch
| Release
Date: August 29, 2005
Release Number: HQ-05-177 | |
WASHINGTON,
D.C. -- Voluntary organizations are seeking cash donations to assist victims of
Hurricane Katrina in Gulf Coast states, according to Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary
of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response. But, volunteers
should not report directly to the affected areas unless directed by a voluntary
agency. “Cash donations
are especially helpful to victims,” Brown said. “They allow volunteer
agencies to issue cash vouchers to victims so they can meet their needs. Cash
donations also allow agencies to avoid the labor-intensive need to store, sort,
pack and distribute donated goods. Donated money prevents, too, the prohibitive
cost of air or sea transportation that donated goods require.”
Volunteer agencies provide a wide variety of services after disasters, such as
clean up, childcare, housing repair, crisis counseling, sheltering and food. “We’re
grateful for the outpouring of support already,” Brown said. “But
it’s important that volunteer response is coordinated by the professionals
who can direct volunteers with the appropriate skills to the hardest-hit areas
where they are needed most. Self-dispatched volunteers and especially sightseers
can put themselves and others in harm’s way and hamper rescue efforts.”
Here is a list of phone
numbers set up solely for cash donations and/or volunteers. Donate
cash to: American
Red Cross
1-800-HELP NOW (435-7669) English,
1-800-257-7575 Spanish;
Operation
Blessing
1-800-436-6348 America’s
Second Harvest
1-800-344-8070 Donate
Cash to and Volunteer with: Adventist Community Services
1-800-381-7171 B'nai
B'rith International Catholic Charities, USA
1-800-919-9338
Christian
Disaster Response
941-956-5183 or 941-551-9554 Christian
Reformed World Relief Committee
1-800-848-5818 Church
World Service
1-800-297-1516 Convoy
of Hope
417-823-8998 Corporation for
National and Community Service Disaster Relief Fund
(202) 606-6718 Lutheran
Disaster Response
800-638-3522 Mennonite
Disaster Service
717-859-2210 Nazarene Disaster Response
888-256-5886 Presbyterian
Disaster Assistance
800-872-3283 Salvation
Army
1-800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769) Southern
Baptist Convention -- Disaster Relief
1-800-462-8657, ext. 6440 United
Methodist Committee on Relief
1-800-554-8583 For
further information: visit the website for the National Voluntary Organizations
Active in Disaster (NVOAD) at: http://www.nvoad.org/. This
list of organizations is provided by the National Organization of Voluntary Agencies
Active in Disaster. Please email EST-DONAT-A@dhs.gov if you are interested
in having your organization added to the list. Please
check with your tax advisor or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for more information
regarding the tax deductibility of your donation.
The listing of or omission
of an institution or organization on this Web site does not refer to programmatic
capability nor does it confer any official status, approval, or endorsement of
the institution or organization itself. This listing does not purport to be a
listing of all organizations that are providing relief in the affected area. Additionally,
there may be organizations providing relief in the affected area that are not
accepting donations at this time. It is not the purpose of this Web site to make,
or enable to be made, any representation to the public concerning the organizations
listed. This listing is for informational purposes only. Any contributions you
choose to make from links on this Web site are at your sole discretion. FEMA
prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery
efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities,
trains first responders, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages
the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became
part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003. | 
