How To Help The Quake & Tsunami Victims In Japan

March 12, 2011 8:10 PM

Local residents walk past debris, including an overturned fishing boat, in the town of Minamisanriku. (YOMIURI SHIMBUN/AFP/Getty Images)

Reporting Kristine Johnson

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Links & Numbers

To find out how you can help the earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan call 311 or go to the 311 website. The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City is also collecting funds.

You can also donate to the cause by visiting the website of the American Red Cross here.

CBS 2′s Kristine Johnson Reports On How To Avoid Donation Scams

How To Help The Quake & Tsunami Victims In Japan

Gretchen Cotter

PayPal.com has teamed with MissionFish to take donations to a huge range of organizations from Red Cross to Global Giving and more. Missionfish has researched and approved about 18,000 charities as being valid and well run so your donation won’t be scammed. I do all my donations to all causes through PayPal because there are so many requests and you need to make sure your money isn’t scammed.
Janelle Ellis

I am a survivor of the Kobe Quake in 1995 and an Emergency SSocial Services worker – I can tell you that Cash is the most useful, quickest, efficient and adaptable way to help. Japan’s disaster victims and evacuees are in desperate and immediate need of heat, shelter, clothing, blankets, water and food. Two organizations that are very good, very credible and very repsected internationaly and already working in Japan are:
MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÈRES (MSF)/ DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Going overseas is not a practical option for many as they do not speak English and would have no friends or family there, and many are still looking for missing loved ones – so they will not leave.
cindysexton@yahoo.com

Instead of sending money with no way of knowing where it is actually going, is it possible to allow a family to come to the united states and stay with another family until things get cleaned up and stabilized? I know that if this happened to me, I would want to get my family out of there an protect my child from possible diseases and crime. Even if some money in all these collections go to victims, the directors and senior management of the charities do line their pockets. It’s the principle I don’t agree with. Sure, it’s easy to write a check and think your doing something… but how about REALLY doing something? By helping a family go somewhere clean and safe, you can see every single day that your helping. Imagine the appreciation and feelings you’d experience from that?

If anyone knows how I could help in this way, please let me know.
Sal

Before you donate, find out if it’s going to take 15 years for the money to get distributed like the 9/11 charities are doing.