Disaster Relief Resources
Disaster Relief Donations That Don’t Bring Relief
Many of the items we Americans donate in times of disaster turn out to be of no use to those in need. Sometimes, they even get in the way of humanitarian workers doing their job under difficult circumstances.
As disasters happen, you may be wondering how best to support the communities in need. Please read through this page to learn how to provide disaster relief to these communities.
Our Role
This article by Break Away briefly describes our role in disaster relief.
How to Help
In times of need communities will require supplies and resources that may be scarce. The best way to donate is to give money to reputable organizations. If you would like to learn more about monetary donations, please review this webpage from FEMA.
You may be concerned about donating money instead of items, but often items are not able to be received or used by the community experiencing a disaster. Monetary donations are what communities can fully utilize. There are organizations and companies that may take donations for disaster relief but do not get these monetary donations to the community in need. To learn more about donating safely, please read this article on how to donate to disaster relief programs and avoid fraud.
Often groups of trained volunteers will be deployed into disaster situations to help rebuild a community. Please do not self-deploy to an active disaster area and do not self-deploy to the aftermath of a disaster without being trained.
For training, please investigate the disaster training provided by the American Red Cross and FEMA.
If you or someone you know needs assistance, please read "Apply for Relief Through FEMA".