I put this in
DHinMI's post, but it's worth its own page.
DHinMI is correct: The RC can move cash the best. If LA, MI, and other nearby folks have clothes and products to donate, remember the local foodbanks, thrift stores, Salvation Army, Goodwill, and the like. These places will be sucked dry quickly.
And when you donate to the Red Cross, it would be helpful if you didn't specify "for Hurricane Karina survivors." Donor intent has to be honored--but the Red Cross has rules about what it can give people.
No matter whether you're George Bush, Mr. Average, or the guy who lives under the bridge, if you lose your shoes in the disaster, you get the same $50 for new shoes (depending on the region). Depending on who you are, you may be more or less grateful.
Because of the rules about how much and what can be given (You cannot take your $100 for clothes and buy beer.), it is possible to receive more donations for a single event than can be used for that event. I believe now that if they've given away all they can for the specified disaster, the money stays in the area for the future, but I heard stories of Hurricane Andrew donations sitting untouched in the bank for years, because, you know, they had to be used for Hurricane Andrew.
Meanwhile, there were mudslides in California, fires in Texas, blizzards in Ohio, and floods in Missouri that also needed funds.
The Red Cross has one of the highest client-dollar usage numbers of any non-profit: Over 98% of your donation goes directly to the survivors. If your dollar isn't needed for this hurricane, another hurricane will be along soon. Or maybe it will go the single mom who brought her baby home from the hospital to find that her apartment had burned down. It will go to someone who needs it, and we always say, "This is a gift from the American people."
Give early, give often, and thank you very much.
Rosel, RC disaster volunteer, waiting for deployment...to Louisiana, not Iraq