The Band of Gold Lends a Hand!

The Band of Gold rocked the house at their "HAVE A HEART FOR HUMANITY VALENTINES BENEFIT CONCERT" which was a night of great music that raised a pile of cash for the Red Cross Tsunami Fund Saturday night February 12th, 2005.   If you'd like to read more about the event just click on BAND OF GOLD ONLINE.  We salute The Band of Gold for donating their valuable time and talents to this noble cause!   

 Links to Relief Agencies Responding to the Crisis

(Includes agencies delivering emergency aid now and those committed to long term rebuilding programs)

PLEASE NOTE:  The American Red Cross and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have announced that they have now raised approximately 1.2 Billion dollars, which they judge to be sufficient to meet all their needs in  providing Red Cross services to Tsunami/Earthquake victims in South Asia and East Africa.  They are encouraging those who wish to support Red Cross efforts to donate to YOUR LOCAL RED CROSS CHAPTER'S own Local Disaster Fund, which is used to provide disaster relief services in your own home community.  Or, the Red Cross suggests you could make a donation to their national general disaster fund, which is used to meet emergency disaster caused needs yet to come anywhere in the United States or U.S. territories.  Contact your local Red Cross office for further information.  Other agencies listed below however still need help!   

• Action Against Hunger

• Action Aid

• Action By Churches Together (ACT)

• Adventist Development and Relief Agency

• African Medical & Research Foundation (Operates a Flying Doctor's Service in Africa)

• Air Serv International

• All India Movement for Seva

• Americares

• American Friends Service Committee (Quakers)

• American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee

• American Jewish World Service

• American Red Cross International Response Fund (1-800-HELP-NOW)

• American Red Magen David For Israel (American Friends of Magen David Adom, the Israeli version of Red Cross & Red Crescent)

• American Refugee Committee

• AMURT (Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team)

• Ashoka

• Association for India's Development

• Bapscare

• Baptist World Aid

• B'nai B'rith International

• Brother's Brother Foundation

• Care

• Caritas

• Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (UK)

• Catholic Charities (USA)

• Catholic Medical Mission Board

• Catholic Relief

• Church World Service

• Christian Children's Fund

• Christian Disaster Response

• Christian Reformed World Relief Committee

• CitiHope International

• Community, Habitat & Finance International

• Concern (UK)

• Concern Worldwide, US

• Counterpart International, Inc.

• Direct Relief International

• Doctors of the World-USA

• Doctors Without Borders

• Episcopal Relief & Development

• Food for the Hungry

• Give India

• Goal (Ireland)

• Goal USA (USA HQ of Ireland Based GOAL)

• Friends of the World Food Program

• Habitat for Humanity International

• Healing Hands International

• Heart to Heart International

• Helen Keller International

• Hope Worldwide, Ltd.

• Interchurch Medical Assistance, Inc.

• International Aid

• International Federation of the Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (Or donate at local Red Cross)

• International Medical Corps

• International Orthodox Christian Charities

• International Relief and Development, Inc.

• International Relief Teams

• International Rescue Committee

• Irish Red Cross

• Islamic Relief Worldwide

• Jesuit Refugee Service/USA

• Latter-Day Saints Charities

• Life For Relief & Development

• Lutheran World Relief

• MAP International (Division of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations)

• Medair (Swiss)

• Mennonite Disaster Service

• Mercy Corps

• Mercy-USA for Aid & Development

• Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, Inc.

• Nazarene Disaster Response

• Network For Good

• Northwest Medical Teams International

• Operation Blessing

• Operation USA

• Oxfam America

• Oxfam International (US residents see Oxfam America listing)

• Pan American Health Organization

• Plan USA

• Presbyterian Disaster Assistance

• Project Concern International

• Project Hope

• Refugees International

• Relief International

• The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

• Salvation Army (or call 1-800-SAL-ARMY)

• Samaritan's Purse

• Save the Children

• Shelter For Life International

• Southern Baptist Convention International Mission Board

• Stop Hunger Now

• Tearfund (UK/Wales)

• Trocaire (Ireland)

• UNICEF (International United Nations Children's Fund, US residents see US FUND FOR UNICEF)

• Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Fund (UNHCR Fund)

• United Nations Population Fund

• United Nations World Food Program

• United Methodist Committee on Relief

• United Way International

• USAID (The U.S. Agency for International Development, a privately funded US Gov’t Agency)

• US Fund For UNICEF

• Vietnam Veterans Of America Foundation

• Water Missions International

• World Concern

• World Emergency Relief

• World Health Organization

• World Hope International

• World Relief

• World Vision International

• World Vision USA

• YMCA International

Tips for Safe & Effective Donating 

This is the greatest natural disaster in modern history and the ability of every disaster relief agency to mitigate the suffering have been overwhelmed and indeed will remain so in the immediate future.  They all need financial help immediately.  Read the following to make sure your donation goes exactly where you want and actually does what you wish it to do.

• 1.  Do not give credit card numbers to anyone who calls you on the phone, no matter who they say they represent.  Charities are exempt from the "Do Not Call" Registry.  Criminals know this.  It is much safer to call the charity yourself if you want to donate by credit card.   When donating online by credit card, ONLY donate on a SSL ENCRYPTED page.  If you don't know how to tell if the site is encrypted, play it safe and call the charity to donate by phone! 

• 2.  Donate money to an agency that you feel comfortable supporting and one which allows you to designate that your dollars go to "Asian/African earthquakes and tsunamis" relief.  Some agencies may not give you that option and they can spend your dollars on whatever and wherever they wish.  Meanwhile others will even allow you to designate in which country your donation is spent if this is important to you.  Consult CharityWatch.Org to see how your chosen charity rates. 

• 3.  This is equally important to number one & number 2.  Do NOT collect or donate clothing or non-perishable food items.  It will be a waste of time at this point.  Sometimes we feel that giving money isn't enough and we want to give a part of ourselves by donating specific items such as used clothing and food.  Mixed items are NOT wanted or needed and will be turned away by all agencies.  The logistics and cost of transporting donated items from the US to the disaster area will exceed the items' value and only serve to complicate delivery of vital aid that is needed right now.  Cash donations will purchase bulk quantities of exactly what is required as close to the need as possible.  We understand that at one time relief supplies were piling up at at least one airport for lack of diesel fuel for trucks to transport them into the disaster area. 

• 4.  Beware of people personally soliciting donations door to door, on the street, by phone or email.  (The F.B.I. has issued a fraud alert due to bogus email solicitations.)  Also, there could be fraudulent emails purported to be from actual victims soon.  Most countertop cash collection canisters are legitimate, but all of them are subject to theft.  CNN ran a story on stolen tsunami relief canisters January 7, 2005.  Never put anything larger than pocket change into a countertop canister.

• 5.  Carefully consider whether donations to newly created charities you've never heard of and which have no proven record of service delivery would actually reach those in need.  Instead it is wiser to direct your contributions by check or credit card to an agency that has a proven service delivery history such as those listed on this page.  Also beware of "sound-a-like" agencies which usually are scams.  The list above is a fairly complete list of the reputable non-profit agencies accepting US Dollars for Asia/Africa earthquake, flood and tsunami relief with the experience to effectively deliver services.  All of the agencies on our list above are legitimate and your donations to any of them are tax deductible.

• 6.   Some of the charities listed above actually have personnel listed as missing or confirmed killed because they were already doing routine work in the area when the disaster happened.  So keep this in mind when dealing with any agency by phone.  It is a difficult time for all of them, but more difficult for some of them as they lost people they knew in the tragedy.

More Tsunami/Earthquake & Disaster Relief Information

Satellite Recognizance Before & After Photos -  CLICK HERE  (Click the "BEFORE" button to change to the "AFTER" view.  Then click the "NEXT" button.)

How does your favorite charity rate?  Find out at Charity Watch.Org - CLICK HERE

For more good information about other charities that are helping already or are getting involved, visit:  Network For Good and also visit the USA Freedom Corps website by clicking on the following banner: 

To learn how to prepare for and cope with disasters of all kinds yourself contact your local Red Cross Chapter.  They offer free training to help you and your family get ready just in case.  You can even volunteer as a Disaster Relief worker yourself through your local Red Cross.  Check your telephone directory under American Red Cross or under Red Cross and call them.  They will set up free disaster preparedness training for you, your family or your group!

Major and International News:

• "Quest Diagnostics Gives $250,000 to American Red Cross to Aid Tsunami Relief Effort" (ArriveNet/PRNewswire)
• "The Givers: Using the Web to Promote Tsunami Relief" (MSN Slate)
• "Crow, Aguilera Among First Confirmed for NBC's Tsunami Relief Concert" (Yahoo LAUNCH)
• "Red Cross Ready To Ease Emotional Wounds" (WCVB-TV 5 Boston)
• "Affinity Internet Announces Tsunami Aid Program" (HostReview.com)
• "Donations Continue to Pour in for Tsunami Victims" (KSL-TV 5 Salt Lake City)
• "Jazz, Red Cross Raise Funds For Tsunami Relief" (NBA.com)
• "Purdue Provides Aid to Victims of Tsunami Disaster in Southeast Asia" (PR Newswire)
• "Firms Offer Aid to Asia" (Maryland Business Gazette)
• "Will post-tsunami generosity spread?" (Washington Times)
• "Tsunami Relief Telethon a Success" (WXIA-TV 11 Atlanta)
• "Congress OKs Tsunami Tax Break" (CNN Money Report)
• "Law Firms Raise $800,000 So Far to Aid South Asians" (New York Lawyer online)
• "Web Site to Aid Survivor Search" (Cincinnati Post)
• "Athletes Open Hearts, Wallets" (Longview, Texas News-Journal)
• "Jakarta Tsunami Summit Begins" (ABC International News)
• "U.N. in the Lead in Relief Operation" (BigNewsNetwork.com)
• "Charity Sets Off Storm with Tsunami Aid Halt" (International Herald Tribune)
• "UPS to Donate $3M in Tsunami Aid" (WXIA-TV 11 Atlanta)
• "Tyson to Donate Up to $1M to the Asia Relief Effort" (Wisconsin AgConnection)
• "Millions Raised for Tsunami Victims" (NBC-4 TV Los Angeles)
• "Meijer Raises Funds" (ArriveNet)
• "No Shortage of Ways to Help Victims" (San Mateo County Times)
• "Aftermath of Tsunamis: Mixed feelings about U.S. aid" (Tucson Citizen)
• "Dow Donates $5 Million to Tsunami Relief Effort" (Inside Indiana Business)

Local News:

• "To give a restricted donation or not?" (South Bend Tribune)
• "Hidden Valley Lake Couple Learns Family Safe After Fatal Tsunami" (Z-wire Journal Press)
• "A Tidal Wave of Compassion" (Stratford Star)
• "Disaster Opening Hearts, Wallets" (Lowell Sun)
• "Hy-Vee Contributes to Tsunami Emergency Fund" (ABC-TV 13 Des Moines)
• "Public's Tsunami Aid Mind-Boggling" (Sacramento Bee)
• "Mammoth to Collect Donations for Tsunami Relief" (Our Sports Central Website)
• "Utahns Open their Hearts and Wallets" (Salt Lake Tribune)
• "Local Tsunami Relief Efforts Raise Millions" (WETC-6 Wilmington)
• "Cash Donations Best for Tsunami Victims" (WNDU-16 South Bend)
• "The Press Establishes Tsunami Fund" (Franklin Press)
• "Urges Businesses to Give" (Hannibal Courier-Post)

Online Resources:

• CNN: Under "Resources: how to help" is a list of aid groups
• ABC News: "How to help" banner
• MSNBC: Tsunami coverage page
• USA Today: Tsunami coverage page

Visit the Tragic96.Com Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Page.  Click HERE.

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