Yes, you should give.
That’s the consensus of tens of thousands of people across the country who are opening their hearts and wallets to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. As of Thursday afternoon, the American Red Cross reported a total of $71 million in donations nationwide.
But how much to give? And how to give it?
Those are the very personal questions people are lingering over in their living rooms in the days following the big storm as stories and images of desperate human beings, fellow Americans, flood the media.
For Cari Harris of Denver’s Highlands neighborhood, the answer was $100. She and her husband, Tim, were stunned by the destruction and despair they had seen on television and sent money to the Red Cross, which conservatively estimated receiving about $500,000 locally.
“I just felt helpless watching the coverage,” Cari Harris said. “If I was there, I’d be helping pull people out, but this far away, the only thing I can do is send money.
“I think there’s just a place in your heart that you feel that if you can help anyone out in this situation, making their life better even in some small way, you should.”
People are digging deep and thinking hard before writing checks or logging on to the Internet to give.
Wendy Aiello, who runs a marketing firm in Denver that focuses on the service industry, donated $1,000 personally to the American Red Cross – an amount similar to what she gave after other tragedies.
Jack B. Weil, a Denver businessman and alumnus of Tulane University in New Orleans, said he plans to write a check for “a couple of hundred dollars” to the Red Cross. But most said they will continue to give in one way or another.
Aiello, for example, is joining with other restaurant-business types to plan a citywide fundraiser similar to the one she helped put on for Sept. 11, 2001, victims. It raised more than $275,000.
Deciding the proper donation amount is a challenge and depends on the giver’s situation. How much to give is hard to determine.
Melissa Temme, a spokeswoman for the Salvation Army, which is collecting relief funds, said the organization leaves it up to people to decide.
But it does tell people what their money can do as a guide. For example, she said, “$100 will feed one family of four for two days (and) provide two cases of drinking water and one household cleanup kit.”
Each meal for a hungry relief victim costs about $3, she said. So people who can afford to give $25 will know they have helped supply eight meals.
“We don’t want somebody to give $500 when they can’t afford it and they are putting themselves in a bad situation,” Temme said.
Gail Bransteitter was moved to action when she heard that the Red Cross had classified Katrina as the worst natural disaster the U.S. has faced in its history.
“The results of this are more serious than most people would like to think,” Bransteitter wrote in a message to 50 people in her e-mail address book. “This isn’t just about property. Lives are at stake.”
Bransteitter, a 25-year-old teaching assistant at Gateway High School, started things off with $100.
A friend suggested Bransteitter turn her combined donations over to her because the friend’s business will double all employee contributions. And the drama club at Gateway will join Bransteitter’s effort starting today.
Denver psychologist Richard Replin said there was no question in his mind that he would donate, but he wanted to be sure the money went to the right place.
“I’m donating a small amount at a time so I can respond as new agencies step forward,” he said.
But when individuals donate, it’s not always easy to know which fundraisers are legitimate.
This week, telemarketers posing as Red Cross workers were soliciting for donations.
“Some chapters around the country might still do fundraising that way, but we don’t in Denver,” said Robert Thompson, Red Cross communications director.
Thompson advises people not to make donations at events they haven’t personally checked out. He says they can go to the website Denver-redcross.org to find authorized fundraisers.
The best way for individuals to donate is to write a check or contribute online, Thompson says.
