Icon from a picrew by grgikau. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
Like a lot of Puerto Ricans, I’m currently part of the diáspora; part of millions of Puerto Rican living outside the island due to different reasons that drove us to leave our Island (temporary or permanent)
As of tonight (9/19/17), Hurricane Maria will be moving across Puerto Rico as a category 5 hurricane. The destruction it will leave on its wake is unknown.
It’s sad and frustrating not knowing how to help my people, my island, my country, during these hard times.
So, I’m gathering all the places we can donate money. Real organizations from Puerto Rico, to ensure that the money goes directly where it’s needed. I’ll be updating this list as soon as I can verify (to the best of my knowledge) the organizations where the donations are going.
If you wish to share one, feel free to submit the information (click here) to out page and we’ll verify (as best as we can). Whatever you can donate, even if it’s just $1, it would be greatly appreciate.
Here is the list so far:
1. Maria & Irma: Puerto Rico Real-time Recovery Fund:
managed by the non-profit ConPRmetidos.
All donations to this fund will exclusively support the victims of the catastrophic Hurricane María and Irma in Puerto Rico and provide relief and aid the communities affected by this disaster.
3.
Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief Fund - Puerto Ricans in Action: All funds will be withdrawn from the campaign on September 29, 2017, by our co-founder, Jorge Rivera, and donated to two nonprofits located in Puerto Rico working to rebuilding communities in Culebra and Loiza: ConPRmetidos is working to construction of long-enduring homes in Culebra that meet Safe Building Codes standards, and
Iniciativa Comunitaria is working with community leaders in Loiza to identify immediate and long-term needs. They are also working with the United Way of Puerto Rico to give the in-kind donations we receive to the best community organization.
Other organizations that would greatly benefit from additional help:
These organizations are helping from afar as well. Check their websites for more information.
1. Puerto Ricans in Action: from Los Angeles, CA. Coalition of
businesses and organizations in the greater Los Angeles Puerto Rican community coming together to offer support to family and friends.
Please share as much as you can. Thanks. Contact us with more information if you have. I’ll keep adding as we go along.
I’m going to provide some links to get you started in terms of donation resources that are available at this time for regions affected by the hurricanes that have passed through or will be coming soon. Feel free to add on.
The French and Dutch Red Cross organizations are seeking donations at this time for their respective territories on then island (do research on any organization you are curious/ wary about before donating, as the Red Cross track record isn’t so hot)
This is just a starting list. As said before, please feel free to add on.
It goes without saying but if you cannot afford to donate, share the information so someone who can afford to help has some options or a place to start looking if they’d like to help
For Haiti, you can also donate to the Haitian Health Foundation, which is based out of Norwich, Connecticut, and Jérémie, Haiti. Just like with the 2010 earthquake, Haiti is going to see huge outbreaks of cholera, as well as mosquito-borne diseases like malaria. My mother has gone on service trips through the HHF before and I can attest that all of the donations they receive go directly to helping the residents of Haiti.
I’ve included a link to their update about the conditions in Haiti after Hurticane Matthew, from someone on the ground in Haiti, and you should be able to find donation links through there.
Guys, the first images of Irma’s level of devastation are coming out of Barbuda and it’s heartbreaking. The President of Barbuda says that 90% of the island is uninhabitable, upwards of 60% of the TOTAL population are now homeless because the hurricane destroyed virtually every building and home on the island, and that the estimated damage is valued at no less than $200 million dollars. That’s money a small island like that doesn’t have. They’re saying it’s going to take years to rebuild and Hurricane Jose is right behind Irma on the same path which means they could be hit twice. This is just one of the islands being affected.
Please, show up for the Caribbean like you did for Houston. There is no safety net for any of these islands including mine. They’ll rely entirely on foreign aid. Find local charities or global trustworthy charities (NOT the Red Cross) and make a donation asking them to aid the Caribbean. There’s whole countries being turned into rubble with no financial means to repair their infrastructures. They’re going to need help.
For the hundreds of people replying or in my inbox asking “Why not the Red Cross?!”:
Seriously, guess where I found all of those in two solid minutes of searching? Google. Even better, they didn’t charge me a penny for it.
Stop wanting things to be spoonfed to you. While you waited for someone to link you to sources, you could’ve done it yourself and already donated to people who desperately need it.
Because people are also asking where to donate instead of the Red Cross:
Habitat For Humanity [83% rating on Charity Navigator // Because with islands like Barbuda 90% destroyed and French St. Martin said to be 95% destroyed then people are going to need homes built]
Catholic Relief Services [90% rating on Charity Navigator // For those who would want to donate to a religious organization]
If there is a note or comments section on their donation page please do let them know that you would want your money to go to their Caribbean relief efforts. Houston and Florida have the US government backing them in whatever they will need but these islands will have very little except for these charities to fall back if they have any hope of rebuilding what seems to be entire countries in some cases. For the people who lost everything even a few bucks will go a long way.
For the most part I would suggest staying away from privately launched GoFundMes unless you know the person directly. Ultimately, you just never know where those funds are going to end up and if your money will be used wisely. Sure, the same can be said for charity organizations but at least there is a better shot at possibly helping through them. The five listed above are world known and have been studied by charity oversight organizations. It’s as close to perfect as we’re going to get.
Please donate if you can! [ Here’s ] a list of essentials to donate.
This’ll be queued on repeat for the next few hours.
Well, after educating yourself and advocating for the rights of the Syrian people in their fight for freedom against a brutal dictatorship as well as naming and holding accountable those who aid the Assad regime such as Iran, Hezbollah and Russia among others, *breathes*, you can help by donating to any of the organisations/groups listed below.
These groups mainly help on the ground in Syria providing aid; be it medical or psychological as well as food and clothes to those in need.
SAMS Foundation: the foundation works with Syrian American health care professionals and operates 106 medical facilities throughout Syria
Doctors Without Borders (also known as MSF): the organisation provides front-line medical treatment as well as providing drugs, medical supplies and equipment
Questscope: the organisation’s work is mostly centered on providing immediate trauma support and psychosocial counseling
Save the Children: the organisation is on the ground in Syria and in refugee communities providing children and their families with warm clothes, shelters, clean water and emergency care
Syrian Civil Defense(also known as The White Helmets): they are about 3,000 neutral, impartial and humanitarian Syrian volunteers who operate as first responders in rebel-held areas across the country. They were recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Karam Foundation: the organisations is focused on educational opportunities for Syrian children, currently raising funds to rebuild schools in Syria.
NuDay Syria: the organisation’s mission focuses on bringing housing and food to displaced families with single mothers or wounded family members. They are especially concerned with the lack of safe shelter and living for single mothers with daughters.
Hand in Hand for Syria: the organisation provides aid including food, clothing, water, sanitation and crucial medical assistance
According to the United Nations, there are almost 14 million Syrian refugees around the world (so far) in need of humanitarian aid. The groups below are mainly focused on helping Syrian refugees:
Migrant Offshore Aid Station: this charity exists to save children like Alan Kurdi, with a fleet of rescue boats patrolling the Mediterranean to save migrants lost at sea.
Refugees Welcome: dubbed as a kind of “Airbnb for refugees” this German nonprofit matches people with spare rooms with refugees in need of housing. If you don’t have a spare bed in Germany.
The Worldwide Tribe in Calais: a group of social activists documenting stories in the Calais migrant camp, they also raise relief funds.
Small Projects Istanbul: the initiative provides classes and cultural enrichment and scholarships to Syrian children in Turkey.
Mercy Corps: the group provides direct aid to Syrian refugees in the form of food and supplies, and by increasing access to clean water and sanitation, shelters, and safe spaces and activities for children
Shelterbox: the group has been providing emergency shelter and supplies to families affected by the Syrian crisis in Iraq Kurdistan, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, including clothing, stoves and, water filters.
UNICEF: the UN agency focuses on assisting Syrian children by providing healthcare, nutrition, immunization, water and sanitation, and classes.
Oxfam: the nonprofit provides aid to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan such as clean water, sanitation services, and hygiene education to help ward of cholera and other intestinal diseases.
Yes, donating won’t stop barrel bombs from falling on besieged civilian areas (that comes by being vocal about Assad’s crimes) but it can definitely help create a start.
Speaking of educating yourselves, an initiative called Syria Social Campaign would send you one or two articles concerning Syria each week! You only have to submit your email address.
The Syrian Campaign is also a great independent advocacy group that has several campaigns like The People’s Convoy which aims to rebuild the last children’s hospital in Eastern Aleppo, and they are an overall great resource of information and I highly recommend visiting their website.
In light of the chemical attack and now the missile strike, here is a list of links to several charities that benefit Syrian citizens, listed with their accountability / financial scores.
PETA: They’d rather spend their money on publicity campaigns than on the animals in their care. PETA killed 73.8% of the animals in their care in 2015 (x)
FCKH8: Is a for-profit company that exploits oppressed groups for money. They’re also wildly uninformed, and spread misogyny, cissexism and bi/panphobia, as well as stealing their posts/designs (x)
Autism Speaks: They spend most of their money on researching a way to eliminate autism, heighten the stigma against autism and don’t have a single autistic person on their board (x)
Please support other, better charities, and feel free to add any others you can think of to this.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure: CEO makes insane amounts of money, they deny a lot of requests for wigs/help with treatment/etc., and have attempted to sue other charities that use the color pink as part of their anti-breast cancer campaign. ( xxx )
The Salvation Army: They promote the hatred of LGBT+ people, work with fundamentalist Christian groups to support conservative politics and rip off and exploit workers. ( xxx )
Wounded Warrior: They take money that should be spent on veterans and blow it on huge opulent parties for the company bigwigs. 26 million in 2014 alone wasted! ( xxx )
^ Important reminder to NOT waste any money donating to these groups
Reblogging because of the added info about Wounded Warrior.
I can’t add links because I’m on mobile, but Locks of Love is an organization that takes donations of hair to make wigs for people with hair loss (cancer, among other conditions resulting in hair loss). They charge the kids for their wigs. I would suggest going to Wigs for Kids, a smilie organization that doesn’t charge (though they are very picky about dyed hair).
NAACP: The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination. http://www.naacp.org/
the Sierra Club: Founded by legendary conservationist John Muir in 1892, the Sierra Club is now the nation’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. http://www.sierraclub.org/
The ARC wasted 500 million dollars in donations after the 2010 quake. Haitians have requested specifically that NO donations be made to the ARC for Hurricane Matthew relief.
Here are alternatives:
Haitian-led orgs you can contribute to directly for relief efforts:
Not only is it true, it gets worse. The Susan G Komen For The Cure Foundation has actually successfully sued “competing” charities, because (paraphrasing) their “message or branding was infringing.”
You read that correctly: they took money that people had donated to cure cancer, and hired attorneys with it, to sue ANOTHER group of people trying to find a cure for cancer, who, in turn, had to us their donated money to hire their own legal counsel to defend themselves.
It’s that time of year again, please remember Komen is the actual worst
Komen For The Cure is pretty much awful.
My mother died in 1996 from breast cancer. Most cancer charities are scams, in that people throw fancy parties and get rich off them and very little money goes into research or support for patients. Here are some vetted cancer charities that get good scores on Charity Navigator and pay medical expenses or fund research:
PETA: They’d rather spend their money on publicity campaigns than on the animals in their care. PETA killed 73.8% of the animals in their care in 2015 (x)
FCKH8: Is a for-profit company that exploits oppressed groups for money. They’re also wildly uninformed, and spread misogyny, cissexism and bi/panphobia, as well as stealing their posts/designs (x)
Autism Speaks: They spend most of their money on researching a way to eliminate autism, heighten the stigma against autism and don’t have a single autistic person on their board (x)
Please support other, better charities, and feel free to add any others you can think of to this.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure: CEO makes insane amounts of money, they deny a lot of requests for wigs/help with treatment/etc., and have attempted to sue other charities that use the color pink as part of their anti-breast cancer campaign. ( xxx )
The Salvation Army: They promote the hatred of LGBT+ people, work with fundamentalist Christian groups to support conservative politics and rip off and exploit workers. ( xxx )
Wounded Warrior: They take money that should be spent on veterans and blow it on huge opulent parties for the company bigwigs. 26 million in 2014 alone wasted! ( xxx )
^ Important reminder to NOT waste any money donating to these groups
Reblogging because of the added info about Wounded Warrior.
Let’s talk about who you can give to instead!
When I want to give money to cancer research I give it to the Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center– partly because they have saved the lives of a couple people I know, partly because they are doing amazing work on cancer research and on stuff like an HIV vaccine and a cure for AIDS. If you want to give specifically to a breast cancer charity, the Breast Cancer Research Foundationis very highly rated and sends most of its donations to actual research.
Want to give money to support wounded veterans? The Semper Fi Fundhas an A+ rating from charitywatch.org.
Want to give money to support autism advocates? The Austic Self Advocacy Networkis run by the Autistic community, in stark contrast to Autism Speaks’ board. (N.B. that ASAN doesn’t have a large enough revenue stream to get a Charity Navigator rating, so I can’t speak to what their financials are like.)
Want to give money to fight homelessness? GO LOCAL. Find out what shelters and support organizations exist where you are and donate to them. Moreover, find out which of your local politicians – city councilmembers, state house reps, mayors, etc – are working to make real changes, like affordable housing, and give money to their campaigns and vote for them. (Seattle people, Nicole Macriis the state rep you should be voting for.)
Please add more! When people want to help, don’t just tell them “Don’t do this” – give them something to do instead.
I’m gonna shout out Fisher House Foundation. They also have an A+ from CharityWatch and a 4 star rating on Charity Navigator. They provide housing/lodging for military families while their loved one is hospitalized, as well as scholarship programs for military kids and spouses. They’ll also take donations of airline miles and use them to fund tickets for service members/their families to travel for medical treatment.
