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(Writerscafe.net)   Hurricane Katrina donation site has broken the $8k mark, primarily due to Farkers. Paypal friendly, accepts all major cards and electronic checks. Donate if you can   (writerscafe.net) divider line
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4579 clicks; posted to Main » on 31 Aug 2005 at 1:42 PM (17 years ago)   |   Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook



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spookcomix
2005-08-31 8:23:01 AM  
For those of you who may be interested in donating any amount of money, large or small, toward the relief efforts necessary for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and especially if Paypal or an "electronic check" is your only avenue to do so, I've duplicated the site that we on Fark used to raise over $9,000 in 15 days for the tsunami tragedy last December and January. You'll find the site here:

http://writerscafe.net/donations.html

The site accepts Paypal, major credit cards and even "electronic checks," and it's super easy to use. A running total of donations is kept so you can see how our collected efforts are paying off.

Every penny that is raised will be sent to the Americares Foundation's "Domestic Relief" program as soon as they set up a fund specifically for this natural disaster.

Thank you all for your kindness and generosity! As of this post, we've raised almost $1000, and that money will likely be forwarded to Americares today while more continues to roll in.
 
the_rev
2005-08-31 8:41:03 AM  
I will make a small donation as soon as I'm able.
 
spookcomix
2005-08-31 8:51:40 AM  
Well, that did it. Now we've broken $1000!
 
EatHam [TotalFark]
2005-08-31 9:07:54 AM  
Are you set up as a nonprofit organization and/or can you provide a receipt for tax purposes?
 
BullsHitter
2005-08-31 9:12:58 AM  
EatHam

I received an e-mail confirmation on my donation, if that's enough for you. I'm fairly sure that Americares Domestic Relief (where the $ is actually going) meets those requirements so his site is just the intermediary. If any questions, check with spookcomix or choose another means of giving.
 
spookcomix
2005-08-31 9:27:19 AM  
EatHam: Are you set up as a nonprofit organization and/or can you provide a receipt for tax purposes?

Like Bullshiatter said, you'll get an email confirmation from Paypal that shows that you've made a payment to the "Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund." Americares is certainly a 501(c)(3), and I checked them out extensively during the tsunami donation drive. They're flat-out awesome. You can go and view their financial statements and whatnot on their web site. Their percentage of overhead is tiny and they do a *lot* of great work, both in the States and around the world.
 
spookcomix
2005-08-31 9:47:45 AM  
Oh man...it's got the greenlight! Well, around 16:00 hours I'd better batten down the hatches. When the tsunami page got greenlit, Farkers donated $5k that day alone. (At least this time I'm not leaving for vacation on g-day. :-)

Drew: Many, many thanks. Your site is an incredible resource for rallying compassionate response during tragedies like these. If I'm ever up your way, or you're down mine (Amarillo, Texas), the beer's on me.
 
Sweater Girl [TotalFark]
2005-08-31 9:49:32 AM  
This is completely legit folks.
spook is not only a fantastic person, he provides any sort of proof you need that the money goes where it is intended to go.
Plus, he even spent some of his own money for a classified ad.
You're good people man, you really are.
 
spookcomix
2005-08-31 9:53:21 AM  
Sweater Girl: This is completely legit folks.

You're a sweetheart. Thanks for the endorsement.

Update: I got word today from Americares that they will take our funds and apply them specifically for Hurricane Katrina. That's all I've been waiting for. Later today when there is $1000 *cleared* in the Paypal account (some of the transactions clear immediately, some take a few days, like the electronic checks), I'm making the first payment to Americares. I'll post it here and on the site when it takes place.

Just know that your money is going to work for those who need it immediately.
 
Neurochemist
2005-08-31 10:01:57 AM  
To those of you who donate through the American Red Cross....

I work at a major hotel chain thats starts with a M. During the last hurricane, the Red Cross reserved 45 rooms at our hotel for 30 days...... The first week, only 3 rooms out of the 45 were occupied... At 129$ a night, during their entire stay, at most, 50% of their rooms were occupied....Meaning: They essentially pissed away thousands of dollars of donations.

We also had Americares staying at our hotel. IMHO, it is a much smaller, better ran charitable organization...
 
spookcomix
2005-08-31 10:14:45 AM  
Neurochemist: We also had Americares staying at our hotel. IMHO, it is a much smaller, better ran charitable organization...

Wow. That's amazing! I've constantly gotten "good vibes" from Americares. What you're saying just continues to affirm that. Thanks!
 
Neurochemist
2005-08-31 10:20:44 AM  
Americares had the intelligence to negotiate their rate and use their tax exempt status. They took the time to explain to the GM, that we were allowed to write-off any discount we gave them from our normal rate. (Believe it or not, these little steps this make a huge difference)

Red Cross came in, gung hoe, willing to pay whatever, paid and left...

It taught me one thing about the Red Cross: they have so much money to wield around, they have stopped caring about efficiency..
 
Sweater Girl [TotalFark]
2005-08-31 10:30:06 AM  
No need to have a Red Cross flamewar;)

This is really simple because he set it up via paypal and other measures.
Help those in need if you can.
 
spookcomix
2005-08-31 12:05:00 PM  
Cool update: If you Google for +"hurricane katrina" +paypal, our little site shows up third in the list. Neato.
 
TheRealMcCoy
2005-08-31 1:37:03 PM  
spookcomix You are a fantastic person. I've linked to your site to help generate more support. Our GM just moved here from LA and he's all over the relief efforts, even arranging for a big truckload of donated goods to be sent to wherever it's needed down there. We'll be talking about your website on our radio stations as well to generate even more donations. Thanks again and good luck!!
 
spookcomix
2005-08-31 1:41:52 PM  
TheRealMcCoy: We'll be talking about your website on our radio stations as well to generate even more donations.

That's fantastic! Good luck to your GM! I hope they're able to establish good routes in and out of the affected areas soon so that help can go in and people can get out.
 
sparky1013
2005-08-31 1:45:57 PM  
once pay day comes you'll be seeing funds from me...
 
splyce
2005-08-31 1:47:08 PM  
Once pay day is here I will be giving what I can.
 
SgtSavage
2005-08-31 1:47:21 PM  
Gave you a link over at a rather large (several thousand registered users) forum and donated away myself today. Thanks for doing this.
 
SpiffyandRedhot
2005-08-31 1:48:27 PM  
Done.
 
jwhite905
2005-08-31 1:50:54 PM  
is this like united way where the payout rate is like .05% of the take.
i know overhead is a biatch.
 
pugsleythegreat
2005-08-31 1:54:42 PM  
ah. my faith in humanity is boosted a bit today FARK.

*sniffle* good work guys!
 
j.ko
2005-08-31 1:56:46 PM  
Thanks for making it so simple!

Folks, please think about how much money you spend in a week on booze, cigarettes, drugs or other implements of fun. Why not take one week's worth of your *luxury* money and donate it to those who will be scraping for their basic needs for the next few months?
 
8ace
2005-08-31 1:57:07 PM  
Thanks for the effort Spook. Donation made.
 
FishingWithFredo
2005-08-31 1:57:11 PM  
I'll donate if they promise not to rebuild a large city below sea level on the Gulf of freaking Mexico.
 
DrTomorrow
2005-08-31 1:59:56 PM  
Thanks, spook. You do the hard work to make it easy for us Farkers to help.
 
spookcomix
2005-08-31 2:00:26 PM  
Wow. The response since the greenlight has been *overwhelming*. Please forgive me if I'm slow to respond for a while...I'm doing all this by hand. :-)

THANK YOU ALL!
 
Raven77
2005-08-31 2:00:41 PM  
Anyone who has questions about Americares, which is the organization to which the money will be going, go Here (pops), to their website.

/Google is your friend!
 
BadBadKitty
2005-08-31 2:05:05 PM  
donated what i had in paypal , wish i had more but as we seen last time , it adds up quick if everyone gives what they can !
 
j.ko
2005-08-31 2:05:13 PM  
Major:
Why donate when it's just going to be re-donated to somewhere else?

Apparently, unsolicited volunteers can pose even bigger problems and headaches to organizations like the Red Cross or the Salvation Army because they don't know what to do with them and how to organize unpredictable numbers of people.

They urge people to *not* send food and water directly, as it opens up possibilities for black markets.
 
spookcomix
2005-08-31 2:05:39 PM  
We just took in about $1000 in 15 minutes. You guys are incredible.
 
HamHam
2005-08-31 2:06:23 PM  
I've been spamming this link at other forums I visit, hopefully it helps some.
 
simusid
2005-08-31 2:06:49 PM  
donation made!

Thanks for setting this up!
 
Petit_Merdeux [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2005-08-31 2:09:00 PM  
I don't think I can donate to a site run by David Brent.
 
Pootums
2005-08-31 2:12:02 PM  
Kevin although I'm a relative noob.

I'm in for 5 large. That gets you to $1500 +.

NueroChem thanks for the Red Cross info..

When the tsunami hit the Asian rim last Boxing Day we folks a GarageBand.com couldn't do much. Musicians = Broke, ya know. We made a Tsunami Relief Cd called Independant Artist Aid consisting of some beautiful tunes. They can be heard at http://iaa.does.it. My band wasn't on it. The cd's too damn good. I was a co-producer and organizer. The musicians are from Hong Kong, Scotland, England, our wonderful Aussie nut case and the good old USA.

All you Farkers, Give it a listen to as you make your donation to the http://Katrina Relief Fund this one pops, too.

And Spooky, good on ya for doing this!
 
castufari
2005-08-31 2:13:08 PM  
Just gave my $50.00, thanks for the charity tip!
 
DavidKirkBeale
2005-08-31 2:14:04 PM  
$50 given to the American Red Cross (a few hours before i saw this thread, sorry). According to posts above, it would seem that my money is currently en route to being pissed away, but I'd imagine with the overwhelmingly large amount of devastation and population that need care, something tells me the money will be spent properly.

/something
//i hope so
 
sol_3535
2005-08-31 2:14:50 PM  
I gave a small donation. I'd prolly waste it on something meaningless, so I'll give it to something that really matters.
 
spookcomix
2005-08-31 2:14:53 PM  
Petit_Merdeux: I don't think I can donate to a site run by David Brent.

Who's David Brent?
 
OccamsWhiskers
2005-08-31 2:17:22 PM  
Good work again, Spook.

I assume paypal is still taking a cut of any credit card transactions. If so, this is probably larger than the cut the cc company alone will take if you donate directly to a charity (since the paypal fee basically includes a similar fee).

But do they take any cut at all for the echeck transactions? It's been a long time since I used paypal at all, let alone as a recipient. If not, this could be a great way to get low overhead funds delivered quickly.
 
gork
2005-08-31 2:18:42 PM  
Major Thomb: Why donate when it's just going to be re-donated to somewhere else? Cut out the middle man and just go straight to the people that can provide the aid.

You do realize of course that anywhere you donate is going to redistribute the money somewhere else (and probably use some of it to pay their own expenses in providing relief).. There's no way to cut out the so called "middle man" short of actually giving money directly to a victim.

I can vouch as a personal friend of Spookcomix that he is very adamant about making sure that every cent you send him is relayed to the most appropriate organization. He picks up postage and bank fees to perform these donations and gives an amazing amount of his time for free to help the people who can't afford to send any more than a few bucks towards the effort. He also takes the trouble and jumps through a lot of hoops and paperwork to get paypal to waive their transaction fees and credit card percentages so that if you spend $10 on a donation, $10 goes to Americares. That's about the best middleman you could ask for there. I'm not even sure that if you were to give $10 via a charitable organization's own credit card donation system that they'd actually receive $10.00 from you -- 501c3's get a discount from credit card companies but fees are seldom waived entirely.
 
Petit_Merdeux [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2005-08-31 2:19:04 PM  
bender_the_offender: Meanwhile, the "stampeded iraqis" fund is still at $0.
But that's ok.. because unlike the people in New Orleans, most of those people probably had some form of insurance anyway, and those that didn't will have billions of dollars of federal disaster relief money coming soon.


Last I checked, every taxpayer in the US had contributed to the tune of $200 Billion.


spookcomix: Who's David Brent?

You're joking right? You're dead ringer for David Brent from "The Office".

/only kidding about not donating
//but not that you look like him
 
nmore
2005-08-31 2:19:30 PM  
Hi,

I don't have any money I can donate, but I am an EMT. If anyone knows of any orginizations which need skilled hands and have some contact info please post it here or email me at (noe dot robert dot more) that is a gmail account.

thanks
 
Boiled_Peanut
2005-08-31 2:20:13 PM  
Thanks spoozcomic
Donation sent. :)
 
Boiled_Peanut
2005-08-31 2:20:59 PM  
Ohhh...just noticed I spelled your name all kinds of wrong...my bad.
 
bcbebop
2005-08-31 2:21:57 PM  
Donated - G'luck, hope it helps.
 
haineux
2005-08-31 2:22:19 PM  
I donated to Americares during the tsunami fund drive and found this out:

* They send me an email once in a while explaining what they are doing with the money.

* They guarantee that the money is going where they say it is.

* They use cleverness, like getting pharmaceutical companies to donate medicine, and do immense amounts of logistics (and paperwork) to redistribute the medicines legally and ethically. This means they can use your cash to pay for the warehouse and shipping. Thus, if you send them a buck, they can deliver several dollars worth of medicine to people that need it.

* ALL of their business practices are scrutinized by reputable auditors AND you can scrutinize them too. They answer your questions.

* You can see on their website what other programs they support, and it's not a bunch of political/religious bullshiat. They're not sending "bibles to El Salvador," but rather medicine, all around the world. (Repo Man quote -- still and all, I think religious people will find their efforts pretty likable, too.)

* They have delivered the equivalent of FOUR BILLION dollars worth of aid to 137 countries since 1982. Yes, the USA is a big recipient of their money.

* They have relatively few employees per unit of good done, so they are efficient.

* On September 11, 2001, they delivered medical supplies to the hospital closest to Ground Zero within four HOURS.

I'll be donating again and again to them. Not to slag on the Red Cross. I'm sure they're good people, too.
 
atlanta_ufo
2005-08-31 2:22:48 PM  
my wife already contributed thru the red cross. shame if they are wasting money still. i thought the bad publicity with 9/11 funds would have made them better with how they spend money sent to be spent on the victims
 
Fark It
2005-08-31 2:23:44 PM  
Why didn't this get greenlighted an hour before I already donated to the red cross?

/good luck, I'd like to send more, but I need food too.
 
MadAfro
2005-08-31 2:24:26 PM  
Already did a Red Cross donation before this thread came up, but I appreciate and commend the effort! I know RC is a big organization, and with that comes a certain amount of inefficiency. It's unavoidable, but since the Red Cross does a hell of a lot of good all over the world, I'm not about to second-guess myself.

Truth is, there are a lot of good charities, and if you're of a mind and capability to give, please do it now.
 
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