Suitably Flip

Aid 2.0

With thanks to Weblogs, Inc., from whom I poached the [slightly edited] source code, I would call your attention to this handy Red Cross online donation link.

Also accepting donations online (more than $2 million so far) is the fundraising dream team itself:

Less graphical, but equally functional, are the following links to other popular charities participating in Katrina relief efforts:

The Salvation Army
Catholic Charities
Samaritan's Purse
Mercy Corps
Feed The Children
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief
Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD)
Soldiers' Angels Katrina Relief Fund
America's Second Harvest
United Jewish Communities

Instapundit has many more.

If you're able to give, you can register your donation to these or any charity at The Truth Laid Bear's contribution log (which you can do anonymously).  With over $1.2 million already flowing in from thousands of donations via hundreds of blogs in dozens of countries, it's a nice illustration of a very tangible, positive externality of the interconnectedness of the blogosphere.

TTLB is also maintaining a list of web-based relief projects (e.g. clearinghouses for donated material goods, job boards, resources for housing assistance, and missing persons databases).  Many of the displaced, including those in the Astrodome, do have internet access, and are not only communicating with family members and keeping informed, but are reportedly also successfully locating missing loved ones online.

One project taking a well-reasoned approach to the problem is the Katrina Data Project.  Rather than simply hosting a public forum for the unstructured publication of personal data (which it considers dangerous and inefficient), it enables survivors, webmasters, and relief organizations to upload standardized, predictably formatted data for each person to a centrally stored Safe List.  The Safe List is not made public as a datafile, but can be queried by those in search of family and friends by designating certain biographical data and/or physical characteristics (searches which, according to the site, have already resulted in 1,325 matches).

If you're aware of other valuable web-based projects, I'd urge you to urge their developers to register them with the TTLB directory.

Finally, to borrow a page from FEMA (hat tip: Glenn):

Please check with your tax advisor or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for more information regarding the tax deductibility of your donation.

The listing of or omission of an institution or organization on this Web site does not refer to programmatic capability nor does it confer any official status, approval, or endorsement of the institution or organization itself. This listing does not purport to be a listing of all organizations that are providing relief in the affected area. Additionally, there may be organizations providing relief in the affected area that are not accepting donations at this time. It is not the purpose of this Web site to make, or enable to be made, any representation to the public concerning the organizations listed. This listing is for informational purposes only. Any contributions you choose to make from links on this Web site are at your sole discretion.

Comments

Aid 2.0

With thanks to Weblogs, Inc., from whom I poached the [slightly edited] source code, I would call your attention to this handy Red Cross online donation link.

Also accepting donations online (more than $2 million so far) is the fundraising dream team itself:

Less graphical, but equally functional, are the following links to other popular charities participating in Katrina relief efforts:

The Salvation Army
Catholic Charities
Samaritan's Purse
Mercy Corps
Feed The Children
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief
Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD)
Soldiers' Angels Katrina Relief Fund
America's Second Harvest
United Jewish Communities

Instapundit has many more.

If you're able to give, you can register your donation to these or any charity at The Truth Laid Bear's contribution log (which you can do anonymously).  With over $1.2 million already flowing in from thousands of donations via hundreds of blogs in dozens of countries, it's a nice illustration of a very tangible, positive externality of the interconnectedness of the blogosphere.

TTLB is also maintaining a list of web-based relief projects (e.g. clearinghouses for donated material goods, job boards, resources for housing assistance, and missing persons databases).  Many of the displaced, including those in the Astrodome, do have internet access, and are not only communicating with family members and keeping informed, but are reportedly also successfully locating missing loved ones online.

One project taking a well-reasoned approach to the problem is the Katrina Data Project.  Rather than simply hosting a public forum for the unstructured publication of personal data (which it considers dangerous and inefficient), it enables survivors, webmasters, and relief organizations to upload standardized, predictably formatted data for each person to a centrally stored Safe List.  The Safe List is not made public as a datafile, but can be queried by those in search of family and friends by designating certain biographical data and/or physical characteristics (searches which, according to the site, have already resulted in 1,325 matches).

If you're aware of other valuable web-based projects, I'd urge you to urge their developers to register them with the TTLB directory.

Finally, to borrow a page from FEMA (hat tip: Glenn):

Please check with your tax advisor or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for more information regarding the tax deductibility of your donation.

The listing of or omission of an institution or organization on this Web site does not refer to programmatic capability nor does it confer any official status, approval, or endorsement of the institution or organization itself. This listing does not purport to be a listing of all organizations that are providing relief in the affected area. Additionally, there may be organizations providing relief in the affected area that are not accepting donations at this time. It is not the purpose of this Web site to make, or enable to be made, any representation to the public concerning the organizations listed. This listing is for informational purposes only. Any contributions you choose to make from links on this Web site are at your sole discretion.