Sandy Relief Organizations?

November 2, 2012 9:38 AM

Please help me donate to Sandy Relief!

I'd like to make a donation to the Sandy relief efforts and am looking for recommendations for a list of organizations to target. I know about the biggies (Red Cross, etc. - although do feel free to list others) and have already made donations there. Now I'm looking for those organizations that are perhaps less well known and that are on the ground directing monies toward this immediate and specific need.

(As an example, this morning I ran across an article mentioning a grassroots volunteer effort coordinated by a small local Asian community organization that's sending people into affected buildings that have yet to see any assistance from the Red Cross, FEMA, etc. It seems to me that these types of organizations could really use an influx of cash immediately.)

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

posted by hapax_legomenon to society & culture (11 answers total)

The Borough President of Staten Island says, "Don't give money to the Red Cross".
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:42 AM on November 2, 2012

Here's one I just learned about: Team Rubicon, which is made up of US military veterans trained in crisis medical care and disaster relief. They coordinate with FEMA and with local Offices of Emergency Management, which is something I always look for.
posted by muddgirl at 9:56 AM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Red Hook Initiative is helping people out in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
posted by loriginedumonde at 10:41 AM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

From this FPP: Portlight Strategies seems to be giving donations directly to affected people who are disabled or their care-givers. In a broader sense the work to make emergency response more accessible and aware of disability issues.
posted by muddgirl at 11:17 AM on November 2, 2012

CityMeals is feeding homebound seniors. And the ASPCA is supporting shelters that have people and pets.
posted by Medieval Maven at 11:31 AM on November 2, 2012

All due respect to the Borough President of Staten Island, his comments are insufficient to lead me to believe one should NOT give to the Red Cross for disaster relief in this case. Every large scale disaster brings out the people screaming about corruption and incompetence at the Red Cross; it’s never substantiated in any significant way and the next time a large scale disaster comes around, the Red Cross shows up and helps people. It's not beyond reproach, and oversight is always necessary, but it's a fundamentally sound organization. 91 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to aid--not to salaries or benefits to employees nor to equipment nor to facilities.

The Red Cross is uniquely situated to provide disaster-relief services and has an unfunded Congressional mandate (based out of the Geneva Conventions, but expanded since then) to do so. It has personnel, money resources and equipment resources to do so. Among other things, it has a well-functioning system in place for relaying "well and safe" messages to family and friends, despite failures of cellphones and communications infrastructure.

Because the Red Cross does this every day on a small scale (for instance, in the city of Chicago, every single time there is a house fire, the Red Cross is there with clothing, food, teddy bears and an arrangement for shelter. Plus water and coffee for emergency response personnel. ARC of Greater Chicago responds, on average, to four emergencies a day), it does it better than most on a large scale.

Personally, I'm giving blood as part of the relief effort because all my charity funds are gone this year. The Hurricane disrupted blood drives, and the power outages ruined blood supplies. There is already a shortfall of close to 12,000 blood units as a result. All blood donation services in the US are nonprofit but hospitals do compensate all NPOs for costs associated with blood services. Red Cross Blood Services handles about 45% of the donated blood supply in the US. About 5% is collected directly at hospitals and the remainder comes from local NPOs, many of whom work directly with the Red Cross for organization of blood drives.

ARC is certainly not the only place to give your money. However, it is by no means a bad use of your charity.
posted by crush-onastick at 11:40 AM on November 2, 2012 [7 favorites]

GOLES is apparantly providing door-to-door relief on the lower east side and is asking for donations. The Asian-American charity you read about might be CAAAV. I found these on Lower East Side Recovers - there are also recovers.org pages for Red Hook, Staten Island, and Astoria.
posted by muddgirl at 12:09 PM on November 2, 2012

I gave to the Food Bank for New York City
posted by neroli at 12:45 PM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

If you have the physical ability to help distribute or want a way to plug in to help make/donate food and supplies interoccupy has targeted aid locations and a frequently updated list of pressing needs. Updates on twitter here: @OccupySandy
posted by stagewhisper at 1:54 PM on November 2, 2012

(disclosure: I am associated with this organization, also this is not an organization that directly helps people, it is a public garden; I was somewhat unsure of posting this, but checked and it seems to be okay)

At the Battery there is a public garden that is cared for by a private non-profit organization. During hurricane sandy, 3/4 of the garden was covered during the tidal surge, leaving debris and plants covered in salt and soil soaked in salt water. The offices of this organization were completely flooded. To the ceiling. They lost everything.

We've been working on dealing with these problems for the last three days, but have no idea where in our budget we'll find the funds for some of the things we need to do.

A description of what happened, with pictures.

The Battery Conservancy donation page.
posted by sciencegeek at 2:41 PM on November 2, 2012

Thanks, everyone, for the great leads. Here's hoping all the little bits add up!
posted by hapax_legomenon at 5:24 AM on November 5, 2012