Tsunami.

Do you have one of those freezers that you can walk into?

Médecins Sans Frontières International Homepage

Two chest-freezers filled to the lids. Enough of that..... have you sent some dosh to help these people who have had their lives wiped out ? Most people should be able to help with a $10 gift.

And anyone else reading this... If you have a computer then you are rich by the standards of most of the folk around the rim of the Indian Ocean who have had their houses and infrastructure wiped-out. Most of those people have an income of about $1000 a year or less, some @ $10 pa

Enough of the funny stuff, this one is really serious, and millions of people are involved and need our help. You cannot rely upon your governments to do it for you, you need to send money to the NGOs. Principally the Red Cross or any other NGO that you trust to be involved and help the situation.

Just send the cost of a couple of four-packs, or more if you can afford it. You won't notice the loss and it will do some good.

Gona have ta talk wif them boyz in tha bak seat an see ifn them kin give a lettle bit. Durn shore wont be no beer frum them ole boyz tho!

mcbrue dryly under the bridge in the trailer down by the river

yes

I think that is the international site. The USA site is what you thought:

Cool, I'm not a dolt. Richard

and a fine suggestion as well.

and a fine suggestion as well.

Personally I wouldn't send a dime to the Red Cross. They are way too top heavy with salaries and only the scandles that reach the press do we know about. I always give to the Salvation Army. Something like 93% of all revenues go directly to help those in need. Good luck anyway.

I too give to the Salvation Army - This is a good way of helping those in need in your community. However, how could this help in this desperate crisis?

I too hate donating to top heavy charities that use most of the money to expand their bureaucracy. BUT, the Red Cross is the ONLY organisation that I know of that crosses all political boundaries and that has the ability to react quickly in times of crisis. This type of organisation has to have some overhead which also means inefficiency and even some corruption. Others like OXFAM are likely worse.

It is easy to find excuses as to why NOT to contribute. If you don't like the Red Cross, then FIND A WAY - any way that will get some help to those in need!

Whut?????? Duz you mean them red crossesers is drinkin?? An them has gotten top heavy wif celery in their bloody marys???? Waaaal ah neva suspected them ole boyz wuz a drinkin an eatin celery !!! Gotta go out an tell them ole boyz in tha bak bout thet!

mcbrue celerized under the bridge in the trailer down by the river

The message from William Brown contains these words:

All charities must have administrative costs. This covers the people who work in processing stuff, the people who are buyers of materials, the cost of salaried folk who need to be paid the market rate in order to employ the best people, the costs of chartering aircraft, the costs of wharehousing against eventualities, which stuff might lie for years before being called upon and which attracts wharehousing costs - and it goes on and on.

The fact of the matter is that charities are not able to operate without an administrative infrastructure by which they are able to get aid upon the ground in order to help people. Without that infrastructure they could not operate. There are not enough qualified people in the world that are prepared to work for nothing except their lodging and food to support charities.

Charities do not work on profits, but on donations from the public at large and from the occasional government largess. In order to spend the donations to the best effect they have to employ the best people, and that comes at a cost.

I do not resent that cost... it is part of the package.

The message from snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (MCBRUE) contains these words:

Dontju jest listen' to what that ole boye sed. He's jus' talkin' out of the wrong end of his body. De Red Cross an the Red Crescent is prob'ly the mos' important crowd out there. Jes take no notice ov the oder boy. If you want ter help, Red Cross is ok.

Here's the good and the bad. The Red Cross as we know it in the US is different than the International RC. You're wrong about the percentages as well. No one, and I mean no one, has overhead costs as low as the Salvation Army. As a reporter I dug into this years ago and the figures handed out by most organizations are pretty much bogus, and padded to their advantage. The good side: The Red Cross does a lot of good compared to most all the other international relief organizations of any size. However, there are many smaller organizations that do an incredible job in situations like the current one in south Asia. Many of these are Christian-based groups who slip under the radar of most media and seek no recognition for their efforts. That doesn't mean non-Christian groups don't help, it's just that in my experience in researching these situations Christian groups seem to be there the quickest with real help. You're right in suggesting that any help is appreciated. Just remember, the muslims in Indonesia and neighboring countries cheered when the twin towers fell. The Buddists and Hindus didn't. Look before you donate.

"The earnest one" wrote in news:zNnBd.5078$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com:

So did Jews in New Jersey.

"The earnest one" wrote in news:zNnBd.5078$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com:

And the best thing we could do to stop that kind of behavior is to stop our actions which cause it.

And no, I'm not talking about the war in Iraq.