Disaster Relief

Stepping aside from the unfortunate politicking, it is our human duty to help out people in need. The disaster in Asia - one of the ten worst known natural disasters in human history - has seen an outpouring of support for the victims. Companies, individuals, non-governmental organizations and governments are doing their utmost to get aid where it is needed.

Here are a few places to start - Feel free to add your own as comments to this post. As always, be careful in choosing a well known charity rather than what may seem as a shady operator - and stay away from blogroaches.

1. The Red Cross, and allied organizations are doing yeoman service in disaster relief.

2. Amazon has a convenient One-click link for contributions on their home page - 100% of the contributions go to the Red Cross

3. Musicians have formed charities and will be doing relief concerts next year - visit musicforrelief.org to contribute through their site

4. The UNICEF organization is working to provide relief to children affected by the disaster - they have an ad up on blogcritics as well.

5. The Salvation Army is taking donations

6. The SEA-EAT blog is a good resource for info and volunteer/relief sites

7. For India, you can contribute to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund (I will add additional country-specific funds here soon)

8. Wikipedia has a load of information, beginning with the main page on the 2004 Tsunami and Earthquake. The humanitarian response wiki is informative

9. Most large corporations are making contributions, and may have matching gifts programs.

10. If you have the time, money and inclination (or geographical proximity), head on over to a relief center in the disaster region and lend a hand.