How best to donate?

Thommo said:
I'm going to make a new year's resolution to think more carefully before I post in future.

As the scale of the tsunami disaster unfolds it is obvious that ALL relief organizations are needed and that they must all be funded. If one is less efficient than some others, so be it!

Thommo
Click to expand...
Ditto Thommo. I guess you can't really imagine the degree of devastation until the figures keep going up, and only then you realise that it matters little who you donate to.

I am pleased to tell you all that Intrepid Travel have agreed to donate a dollar for every dollar donated (up to $50,000). I have copied and pasted their email below. Given the circumstances, I am sure this would be fine.

**********
Intrepid Travel is launching an appeal in the wake of the destructive earthquake and tsunami in Asia. Our appeal will support the work of our long time partners in the affected areas, Medecins Sans Frontiers and PLAN. Funds will be split equally between the extremely valuable projects of these two organisations, as their ability to provide hands-on support at grass roots level is exceptional.

Intrepid will match all donations dollar for dollar (for the first AU$50,000 received) to The Intrepid Foundation, and we will pay all Foundation administration costs.

Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders), has mobilised assessment teams in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and India as well as other affected countries, to determine immediate medical and relief needs. Funds raised will help Medicins Sans Frontiers assess areas where populations are most vulnerable and in greatest need of immediate medical help. The teams will then establish a base of operation to support local health structures or set up clinics from which to provide medical care. The teams will also establish water sanitation facilities and nutritional clinics where necessary.

Medecins Sans Frontiers' biggest challenge is to provide clean drinking water and contain the disease and epidemics, which inevitably result from a catastrophe of these proportions. More information on their work can be found on the Medecins Sans Frontiers website

PLAN is part of a major disaster-response program in Sri Lanka, the worst affected country. Thousands of people are dead - many of them children. More than one million people have also been left homeless. Funds raised will be used to support both short and long-term emergency relief and rehabilitation, including much needed food, clothing, housing and fresh water. Once the more immediate needs are met, PLAN's focus will move to restoration of family livelihood.

PLAN is an international child centred community development organisation that has no religious or political affiliations and operates in over 60 countries. Please visit the PLAN website for more details fo their programmes.

Donations can be made through the Intrepid Foundation by downloading a donation form and writing 'Asian Tsunami Appeal' on the form.

Unfortunately we did not have the opportunity to announce the appeal in Express this week, so we hope an additional email is not an inconvenience under the circumstances, as many Express readers have expressed a desire to be able to help provide much needed financial assistance.

It's desperately hard to comprehend the images and stories being relayed across the world, of the destruction and personal tragedy resulting from the tsunamis in the Indian Ocean. Our hearts go out to the hundreds of thousands of people affected and we appreciate your support in delivering aid to those in need.

Thank-you

Darrell Wade,
CEO Intrepid Travel


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Read Our Privacy Policy
Intrepid respects your privacy: we do not sell, rent or pass on your name or details to third parties. Nor do we spam - subscription is permission-based only.
Contacting Intrepid
The Intrepid office is open 24 hours a day from Monday to Saturday - our web site never closes :) If you can't find what you need on the web site then email us at [email protected] or call us on the following numbers:
Australia: toll free 1300 360 887
New Zealand: toll free 0800 174 043
United Kingdom: toll free 0800 917 6456
United States: toll free 866 847 8192
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This seems like the way to go for me now. They are not a huge company but they certainly hold up their end in respect to social responsibility and giving back to the countries that they run trips in.

On that note, it is disappointing to see how little some of Australia's biggest companies have chipped in. Sorry to chime in on what everyone else is saying, but I find it sad.

Ali

PS. I just noticed that the links in the Intrepid email did not show up. They are:

Medecins Sans Frontiers'
http://www.msf.org.au/

PLAN
http://www.plan.org.au/Default.asp?

Download a donation form (write 'Asian Tsunami Appeal' on the form.)
http://www.intrepidtravel.com/rtfoundation
 
The USA today increased their funding from $35 mil to $350 mil. I think it's hard to criticise with this disaster as it continues to become so much worse every day, everyone appears to have been caught out with the enormity of it. With the death toll reaching 150,000 and still climbing it's simply just so hard to believe the catastrophic effects of what has happened. We just have to believe Govts worldwide will do their best as I am sure they will. These countries have been fighting various "wars" and their funds are low which just adds to the difficulties Govts have in trying to assist and support.

I have so many Sri Lankan friends who we hope are ok. If you are a cricketer it is impossible to not know Sri Lankan's and Indians. I used to play with a Sri Lankan team and was a member of the club. They are such a friendly race of people and I haven't met a Sri Lankan I didn't like. Adele and I are devastated by this tragedy and are trying to contact some really good friends to check on their health but the chaos makes getting info almost impossible.

Researcher - you make an excellent point. The effects of this disaster are so widespread, issues we just wouldn't think of http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11826195%5E28477,00.html Disease is expected to kill just as many people which is simply inconceivable if it occurred. The support is necessary for a long time and relief organisations will no doubt assist Govt in this area but we need to do what we can too.

My thoughts go to everyone involved and those countries effected.

Kev

www.nundahrealestate.com.au
 
Guys,

There is an outpouring of grief from the artist community at large, too..

I will be posting information soon of a massive art auction with artworks donated by hundreds of artists in all mediums, of all levels of professionalism... (and even me, at the lowest levels of ability... hehe)

Stay Tuned.

asy :D
 
Kevin Hockey said:
The USA today increased their funding from $35 mil to $350 mil. I think it's hard to criticise with this disaster as it continues to become so much worse every day, everyone appears to have been caught out with the enormity of it. With the death toll reaching 150,000 and still climbing it's simply just so hard to believe the catastrophic effects of what has happened.

Kev

www.nundahrealestate.com.au
Click to expand...

Hi All

That's great news re the USA $350M donation. Comined with the dispatch of an aircraft carrier, the Abraham Lincoln, and an amphibious ship carrying a Marine expeditionary unit they are doing their part.

I must say i am peeved at a small few in media who seem to think the donations should be some form of auction (whoever bids the biggest wins) and criticised the USA and AUST for paltry sums. I wonder how much these persons have given personally? Does not a Country have the right to make thier own assessments any more.

On another point reports that the Aust death toll may well excede Bali are valid. I have contacts close to this matter and they confirm they expect a lot worst in total Aust deaths and are making preparations.

Peter 147
 
Hello everyone

Can I just say that if I give for the right reason, then does it really matter which charity I give to? Once I hand over that donation in good faith, it's out of my control.

My charity of choice is Community Aid Abroad - Oxfam.

Cheers

CK
 
Firstly CK,

I'm a bit partial to Violet Crumbles myself :D

I think it's important that our money gets to where we intend it to go. To just give money and hope that it doesn't buy someone another luxury waterfront harbour home would be remiss don't you think.

I know where I want my donation to end up.

Kev

www.nundahrealestate.com.au
 
Hi Lissy

I must comment on how encouraging it is to see a charity accept that they can only work within their limits and that extra cash will not make a significant improvement.

FYI as taken from article

The Australian branch of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) has become possibly the first aid agency in the world to ask donors to stop pledging money to its tsunami appeal.

Public donations to Australian charities yesterday topped $75 million, but while most aid groups continued to plead for financial help, MSF paused its appeal after reaching its $1 million target. Any donations beyond that limit could not be used, a spokeswoman said.

"We can only send a certain number of people at a time. We can't rush more over because we have to co-ordinate with MSF teams from other countries," Dorothy Griffiths said.

Australia's MSF team has 300 volunteers but has so far only been able to send one doctor, a nurse and three logistics experts to Sri Lanka, and a doctor and a water sanitation engineer to Indonesia. A further 20 volunteers are on standby.

MSF had decided it would be breaching its ethical code to collect money it could not use for its designated purpose.

The last statement demonstrates real integrity and honesty well beyond what we have come to expect in todays world. :)

Congratulations, MSF

peter 147
 
Personally I had no problem donating to the Red Cross. Having been on the receiving end of help from the Red Cross and other aid agencies...........I wouldn't fault any of them.

They all do things differently........sure. As long as in the end the money goes where it is most needed and isn't lost along the way in bureaucratic red tape. That's my only concern!

Ruby
 
What MSF could use though is ongoing donations - one off donations are great when they require urgent funding for a disaster project like this, but with a committed income stream coming in on a monthly basis - they can then start to budget for ongoing efforts in all of their regions of activity. The same would apply to many other charitable organisations as well.

So, don't just stop with these one off donations for this disaster - commit to making a monthly contribution ... most organisations will allow you to have it charged to your credit card automatically on a monthly basis - makes it very easy to manage (and you could earn frequent flyer miles too on the donations :D )
 
We have donated to the red cross, as it is one of the first organisations that was able to reach aceh, the region most affected.

I don't think it matters who you give to as long as you make a conribution. The amount of devastation is so great that any help is needed.

Cheers,
 
Well I made a donation to World Vision as I sponsor a couple of kids through them and know that most of the money is likely to get to the frontline. I wasn't happy to read in that article though that they knocked back a donation from Clubs NSW on moral issues. As if the dying people in Sri Lanka and Indonesia care if the money comes from gamblers! Any donation is a good donation and charities should not judge those who donate.

Nat :mad:
 
I donated today to Father Chris Riley's organisation Youth Off The Streets (YOTS). Since this charity is relatively small compared to the well known charities it hasn't received so much media attention. This incredible man usually works trying to help the disadvantaged kids of NSW - I'm not sure if he works in other states too - to get them off the streets and away from a life of crime and/or drugs. Father Chris takes the kids everyone else has given up on and his successes have been amazing.

Anyway he is leaving for Aceh tomorrow, to set up an orphanage for the children who have lost not only their home but their family as well. The latest in some media reports is that these children are now at risk of being abused by pedophiles and illegal adoption scams.

As House Keeper said, there are so many worthy recipients of our money/aid, but if you're interested in donating to YOTS for this orphanage the number is 1800 062 288. They are also interested in toys, clothes, linen etc. They have a website with more info - www.youthoffthestreets.com.au.

BPW
 
I donated to Red Cross after having a look at many of the organizations websites, and my decision was partly based on their comparatively low administration costs. Have been considering sponsoring a child through World Vision, and now think I may do so for one from the area of this tragedy. Heard that many sponsored children have died and they have to notify their sponsor families-will be very sad for them.
 
One of my earlier posts has attracted a couple of private emails with different requests but primarily looking to create a fund in which we could "sponsor" a community in Sri Lanka using my contacts there to set something up. Firstly I would like to thank those who have contacted me and for your thoughts.

I have spoken to some of my friends, those here and in Sri Lanka and I have been waiting for confirmation of this to come through. http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,11865408-23212,00.html

This project will help to build homes and infrastructure for regions savagely effected by the Tsunami. Any assistance to this cause would be grateful.

I received excellent news today, one of my best friends with whom I still play over 40's cricket with and was one of my groomsmen over 16 yrs ago lost no relatives from the disaster. His family lived away from the coastline but undoubtedly as news comes through he and his family will become aware of friends and colleagues from times past that he will recognise as having perished. I still have another close friend near Colombo I am still attempting to contact but as you can imagine it is difficult to do at this time.

Kev

www.nundahrealestate.com.au
 
Kevin Hockey said:
One of my earlier posts has attracted a couple of private emails with different requests but primarily looking to create a fund in which we could "sponsor" a community in Sri Lanka using my contacts there to set something up. Firstly I would like to thank those who have contacted me and for your thoughts.

I have spoken to some of my friends, those here and in Sri Lanka and I have been waiting for confirmation of this to come through. http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,11865408-23212,00.html

This project will help to build homes and infrastructure for regions savagely effected by the Tsunami. Any assistance to this cause would be grateful.

I received excellent news today, one of my best friends with whom I still play over 40's cricket with and was one of my groomsmen over 16 yrs ago lost no relatives from the disaster. His family lived away from the coastline but undoubtedly as news comes through he and his family will become aware of friends and colleagues from times past that he will recognise as having perished. I still have another close friend near Colombo I am still attempting to contact but as you can imagine it is difficult to do at this time.

Kev

www.nundahrealestate.com.au
Click to expand...
Great idea!!! Cricket identity Harry Solomons who is of Sri Lankan origin and owner of Kingsgrove Sports has formed the Sri Lanka Disaster Fund and is co-ordinating a collection of clothes and non-perishable foods. Donations can be made at the store at 179 Kingsgrove Road, Kingsgrove, or 46 Bentley Street Wetherill Park. He is also holding a walk from his store to the SCG to raise $$$$. Ph: 1300 798 044 or 9502 4533 to donate.
 
Hi Kev

Thanks for your post about the Cricket-Aid Relief Fund - anyway of finding out exactly where to donate to this fund?

Ciao

AnnE :) :) :)
 
Re: the donation of clothes for Sri Lanka via Kingsgrove Sports, out local paper ran an article yesterday saying that due to the overwhelming response :) ,are not able to accept any more donations in case anyone was thinking about doing so.
 
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