How to Help Natural Disaster Victims

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With the news dominated by the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy and the storm still causing issues in many regions many people are left wondering how they can help. Here is a list of ways you can help whether you are local to the disaster-stricken areas or not.

Check In: If you know people in the effected areas check in and see if there’s anything you can do to help. In some cases people will need a place to go, in others it’s enough to know you’re thinking of them.

Offer What You Can: Locals to a disaster who have power, warm showers, etc. can offer neighbors and friends a place to warm up, take a hot shower, and charge devices. If you have a warm place to sleep-make room for company.

Donate via Text Message: Simply text 90999 on your phone to donate $10 to the American Red Cross which helps fund relief efforts to all natural disasters.

Donate Blood: Over 300 blood drives were cancelled due to Sandy, and there is always a need for blood donations, but especially in times after a natural disaster. You can find out how to donate in your local area by googling blood drive or blood donation and the name of your city or state.

Volunteer: Whether you live locally or not you can volunteer your time to help disaster victims by either traveling to physically help clean up damage, spread awareness, and collect donations.

Start your Own Drive: While the Red Cross and many larger organizations can’t accept personal donations, you can start your own drive either to raise funds, collect gently used items, toiletries, or even a toy or book drive since many families lost everything.

Organizations that Are Helping Victims of Sandy:

Samaritan’s Purse: For more info on how to volunteer and efforts the organization is making visit this page.
Red Cross: Donate, donate blood, or volunteer. More info can be found at their website.
Salvation Army: Donate–more info on their website.
ASPCA: Pets need help post-Sandy too. Follow the ASPCA’s breaking news post and donate.

Know of other organizations or have other ideas about how people can help? Share them in the comments.

My heart and prayers go out to everyone who is affected by Sandy.

Kelly

About Kelly

Kelly Whalen is the founder of The Centsible Life, a blog where motherhood and money meet. Her goal is to help readers live well on less. Kelly is a mom to 4, and loves that she can stay at home with her kids, and still pursue her passions for writing, personal finance, and social media. You can often find her on twitter and Facebook talking money and motherhood.

Tagged as: emergency, Good Causes, how to help, social good

kelli leong

hello my name is kelli and me and my husband want to open up our home to a family or really any one who needs a place to stay and dont know how to help i know buffalo is a drive but we have a safe place to stay if needed how do we help?
Pingback: How to Prepare for Natural Disasters and Emergencies
http://twitter.com/ElenaSonnino Elena Sonnino

Great resources for concrete actions people can take!
- http://www.thecentsiblelife.com/ Kelly Whalen
  
  Thanks!
nanjhnyc

Thanks for posting it. I’m compiling a big list of resources and I added this, hope you don’t mind – Nancy Horn

http://www.themamamaven.com/2012/10/30/were-safe-plus-important-links-hurricanesandy-breastfeeding/
- http://www.thecentsiblelife.com/ Kelly Whalen
  
  Awesome! Thanks for sharing this!