I’m taking a break from sharing our latest travel stories and travel guides with you because there will come a time when the world needs our help. Right now, there are a lot of people out there who are hurting right now and they need our help. Between those affected by Hurricane Harvey, the 1,000+ people who’ve perished in South Asia due to flooding, and the 1,000+ who’ve died following mudslides in Sierra Leone, it’s been a terrible couple of weeks for the world.
The picture you see at the top is from a wall in Carrboro, NC. On the right side is written, “We are a nation of many colors” in English and Spanish. To me, the “Nation” in question is the whole world and when so many people are in need of help, I can’t just sit back and do nothing.
I’ve done a lot of hard thinking about the best ways to do my own part and wanted to share the avenues that I will always pursue when disaster relief is needed. My friend Charles McCool mentioned Charity Navigator as a great resource to research before making your decision, and I’ve compiled a list of places that come highly recommended by Charity Navigator, as the best channels for disaster relief.
Unfortunately, not all organizations have people’s best intentions in mind, and I’m thankful that sites like CN exist. Here are 10 organizations that Charity Navigator has recommended you should look to when offering your help:
All Hands Volunteers – Respond. Recover. Renew.
American Red Cross – Helping prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies
Catholic Relief Services – Faith. Action. Results.
Direct Relief – Deliver a world of good.
GlobalGiving – Connecting donors with community-based projects that need support.
Islamic Relief USA – Working together for a better world.
MedShare – Improving the quality of life of people and our planet.
Save the Children – Creating lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world.
SBP – We shrink the time between disaster and recovery.
World Hope International – Opportunity. Dignity. Hope.
I felt compelled to create this list for you because so you can have all the tools in place to do your part. I did not receive any compensation from Charity Navigator. They have worked hard to vet organizations who are doing their part.
If you think there are additional groups that deserve recognition, I am building a much larger list and would love your feedback as I do so.
My goal here is to keep communication channels as available as possible, when and if future tragedies occur. I hope you’re able to do your part in helping those in need. The world is full of wonderful people who are contributing and if you ever become one of those in need, I will gladly be there to help you along with everyone else.
That’s a great thing to do Duke – very well done ! I try to support a few organisations via donations or sponsored events – I suppose Oxfam would be the main recipient. There’s a few others I support mainly due to my engineering background, these are: RedR (Register of Engineers for Disaster Relief), Habitat for Humanity, Engineers Against Poverty and Engineers Without Borders. Of course, it goes without saying, that these organisations work tirelessly to alleviate poverty everyday but also help out should disaster strike.