Yes, I am again parked in front of the television watching the news out of Japan. As of this time, there has been another explosion, and radiation is increasing. People are either being evacuated or being asked to stay indoors. Communication is close to nonexistent in many of the hardest hit areas.
What I find so amazing is the calm of the Japanese people! They wait patiently in line for food and gas. They are helping each other. While watching CNN tonight, a reporter told the story of a man handing his bowl of food to another man who had not eaten. One person made the statement that the government can not be expected to be everywhere at once. Many of these people are still without electricity, food, water, gas, and heat. The temperatures are dropping, and it is supposed to snow.
What is so heartbreaking is that the scammers have already started trying to get money from people by trying to pretend to be legitimate agencies. Please be careful when donating.
You can donate $10 to the Red Cross by texting “REDCROSS” to 90999. We did this, and it is so easy. The $10 donation will be added to your phone bill. FoxNews has a list of legitimate agencies to donate to here. FindingMickey.com (@FindingMickey on Twitter) has some items still for sale here with 100% of the sale going to the Red Cross. I just saw that an EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival Vinylmation is still available at this time.
I can see the wheels turning as you may be thinking about how the money donated is used. Honestly, I don’t have the statistics on all agencies, but I did just see an interview with Gail McGovern, President and CEO of the American Red Cross, on CNN. She said that at the Red Cross, 91 cents of every dollar donated goes to relief efforts in the country that they are targeting. So, in this case, 91 cents of every dollar you donate will go directly to Japan.
If you have the means and desire to help the people of Japan, please donate to a legitimate agency of your choice. Please keep the people of Japan and the people involved there in disaster relief in your prayers and/or thoughts.
Thanks for posting this blog! Its so sad to see people stealing money via scams pretending to collect money for such a devastating event. Thanks for posting resources for legitimate places to make donations!
You are so welcome! I actually saw the body of a scam email on a news site, and it looked so legitimate. I can see how people are taken in by these. In this day, we really have to stick to either agencies we know personally or agencies compiled by news sources.
I said the same thing to my husband about how calm the people were! So sad people scam money out of people in times like this. Following you from the hops =)
http://nextgenhomeschooler.blogspot.com/2011/03/5-steps-to-help-organize-your.html
I’m so sorry to have not approved your comment earlier! For some reason, it ended up in spam. Thank you for stopping by from the hops!
Human nature shows it’s best and it’s worst in times like these. Thank you for the warning.
You’re welcome for the warning. Thank you for stopping by!
I have heard from family members in Japan – that they are not as worked up as the Amerian West is abou t it. It is what it is. Rampant Fear Headlines are not driving them crazy. Thanks for the tip on the Red Cross easy donation! Even if the money is not funneled to Japan Specifically – we have been in close work with their organization in the Pacific Northwest and they are Amazing, Thrifty, and Purposeful!
I’m glad that you have heard from your family members!
It’s heartbreaking. Scams make it worse. Thanks for raising awareness.
You’re welcome! I have to say that I haven’t heard too much about scams this time. I just happened to see one article on our local news.