$5 To The Red Cross Japan Disaster Fund?

[Sojourner]

Please, these people need our help: they're cold, without shelter and most have lost loved ones in an instant. All this put together makes this an unfathomable nightmare for the survivors. $5 isn't too little to help; all put together, it'll go farther than you'd believe: food, water, blankets, shelter. To someone who has nothing at all left, this means everything. I wouldn't ask this of anyone if I didn't make a donation myself. Please, consider something, anything. Thank you.

Red Cross Japanese Disaster Fund

[DailyDi]

Donated by Text:

Text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10

[guitar_a_goo_goo_ga]

So Japan > New Zealand or donate to Japan because their disaster is newer?

Hey remember Haiti? Their country was shit before their devastating earthquake.

I guess all I'm saying is that Japan has more money and resources and will most likely bounce back quicker than Haiti. If you already gave money to all of these countries then great and I'm not saying don't donate to Japan. Just don't forget that most people are in need and donating every once in a while helps but don't forget about them afterwords.

[guitar_a_goo_goo_ga]

You confuse edgy and sarcastic with being logical.

[Bettypooh]

People tend to focus on the most recent things. News ceases to be news when it gets old, and people forget older calamities as they hear about new ones Big events overshadow smaller ones, and we humans are easily distracted Do you remember that on 9/11/01, the Concorde Airliner was relaunched into trans-Atlantic service? That would have been world headlines had the WTC incident not happened at the same time For that reason alone, the relaunch effort failed- an example of how we react based on how we see the importance of things, and how we miss so much because of our human tendency to get tunnel-vision There is always a need for assistance somewhere, though the biggest need is usually for relief immediately after a disaster. It takes time to get restarted, but for most people once they get past that initial hurdle they will be able to help themselves again By the time that happens, someone else is in the news needing help Calamities never stop- it's just part of human life on the big blue planet

As poor as I am, I can't help others with money beyond dropping some change in the Salvation Army bucket at Christmas so I make my contribution by volunteering- I give my time to organizations that help others instead And I chose to work only for organizations that help indiscriminately, giving equally to all There are several websites that research charities and post about how efficient they are getting the most out of your contributions. Use them because you'll find many well-known charities get very little assistance to the victims they''re supposed to be helping In my state, a charity can keep 90% of what it takes in and still maintain it's tax-exempt charity status so you have to be very careful here. There's no point in comparing one calamity to another, or the needs of one group versus the other. If you are able to help then you should do so, because the next victim could be you Give always- then there will be something ready when your turn comes

Bettypooh

[guitar_a_goo_goo_ga]

Actually I'm not.

The damage in New Zealand and Haiti was nowhere NEAR the damage Japan is dealing with. Japan is probably 100+ Billion in damage, Haiti was around $14 Billion ($15 Billion has already been raised). As to why Haiti is still a crap whole? Local politics, distrust of foreigners, theft of supplies, corruption, etc contributes a lot to it.

Japan needs help right now more than Haiti/New Zealand combined.

But if you're gonna start picking at disasters, don't forget Libya or floods in Pakistan, Darfur, or even the economic crisis in the US. The simple fact is people can only help a place so much before they also have to help themselves. You can't keep tossing money at a problem until it's magically fixed. A lot of that donated money goes to food, shelter, medical supplies needed IMMEDIATELY after a crisis breaks out. The physical and economic reconstruction needs to be left to the country itself to take care of.

Actually you are.

You can measure damage in monitory value sure, however Haiti's death toll of almost a quarter of a million people, to me, is more of a tragedy than the loss of billions of dollars worth of stuff. The people of Haiti were poor had had almost nothing before the earthquake and now the situation is even worse. The point is that there are tragedies and injustices all over the world all the time and those who care shouldn't give money only when a disaster hits. Yes there are more people in need than any one person can help, all I'm asking is that everyone not forget about them when a disaster elsewhere hits.

This isn't about taking away the thousands of dead in Japan, or trivializing what is going on there. It's about the big picture. Take a step back and remember that thousands more die everyday all over from preventable causes like disease, dirty water or lack of food to name a few. Give to Japan? YES. Give only when a disaster that's on the news hits. NO. Give within your means? Yes.

[bignappybo]

I think you find that when you donate to any disaster fund, it will be spent on other disasters that the charity has workers, and lets be thankfull that it is noy us needing any sort of help.

[DailyDi]

I think you find that when you donate to any disaster fund, it will be spent on other disasters that the charity has workers, and lets be thankful that it is noy us needing any sort of help.

This. Whenever ANYTHING happens the Red Cross is among the first people you see, so I Always donate to them. Very often they are there spending money on the belief that the funding will come later for it.

[DailyDi]

In the news today:

Already, the American Red Cross has given an initial ten million dollars to the Japanese Red Cross society to help with medical care and relief efforts. Red Cross officials also said many of the organization's chapters in Japan are equipped to deal with a nuclear crisis.

[curiositykilledthecat]

Well if you look at it from another perspective you have a country who is poor and has legal child slave labor.(also means sexual abuse), you have the country who makes tentacle porn and sells used panties out of a machine and a country that is proud of having a bird that looks like a furry chicken fetus(albeit I love kiwis). Every cause is important and every country including our own needs support. It is just a matter of picking which one you wish to help and doing so. I am inclined to help Japan, simply because nuclear fallout is a bigger concern right now. I have missionary friends in Haiti so I know Haiti's being helped and to be honest I am not up to snuff on what is going on in New Zealand. Giving to charities like the Red Cross and World Vision will help all of the aforementioned tragedies due to these charities operating globally rather than in one location. My heart goes out to the Japanese right now and I am praying that the reactors don't go up completely. Three Mile island and Chernobyl were horrific events and Japan is too densely populated to handle that.

It does matter to whom or which cause you give, just as long as you do as your inclined to.

[BBB]

I sorta feel bad for saying/thinking this way...

But my government donates for me, in the form of billions of dollars in foreign aid every year.....

But it's truly how I view the situation, so I donate to local charities only.