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OK, I acknowledge all the people who have no money, have already donated, etc. The fact of the matter is that we should all try to do our part to help out if possible. That said, I'm starting this thread in an effort to put together a mass donation to the American Red Cross.

Anyone can donate by visiting http://www.redcross.org/, but I've been thinking about it and I feel that one large donation is better than many small donations. The reason for this is that when you donate via credit/debit, the credit card processing company gets a fee for that transaction. The fees are generally based on a flat rate and a percentage of the transaction, which means that small transactions get relatively more money taken in fees. Even if the processing companies have waived these fees, which I sincerely hope but kind of doubt, one larger transaction saves on paperwork and processing time, and allows the RC to get the money in their hands faster and distributed more quickly.

This disaster will require years from which to recover, but the most desparate time is absolutely right now, as you all should know. So, that in mind, I'm opening up my Paypal accounts and soliciting donations. If you would like to donate via paypal balance, send payment to [email protected]. If you would like to donate via credit card, send payment to [email protected]. Put "Katrina Donation" or something in the message.

I'm starting the pool with $50 and I'll leave it open at least until Tuesday night. Don't post to say why you can't do it, I don't really care and it's your business anyway. Feel free to post if you're going to donate, though.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Okay, I'm gonna see what I might be able to spare, and if I can figure out how I'd actually donate something to the fund, I'll try get £10 or £20 into it, which is roughly about $20/$35 IIRC. Ought to know if it's possible for me to give any donations by tomorrow, and I'm fairly sure I should be able to at least give something.

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"Only the dead have seen the end of their quotes being misattributed to Plato."
-George Santayana

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..."
-Abraham Lincoln, prior to the discovery of Irony.

$25 sent.

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Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

I will donate $100.

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The clouds ran away, opened up the sky
And one by one I watched every constellation die
And there I was frozen, standing in my backyard
Face to face, eye to eye, staring at the last star
I should've known, walked all the way home
To find that she wasn't here, I'm still all alone

-Atmosphere "Always Coming Back Home to You"

Well, I'm going to post about why I'm not donating through Josh because I have a suggestion about the donations.

Peter and I had decided to donate the same amount as our monthly tithe (about $200) to disaster relief this month. In church this morning, we heard about a better way to donate it, though, and opted to go for that. Apparently, the ELCA will absorb all administrative costs associated with donations (something the Red Cross won't do), and it also has a way to match the donations by 50%. So, our $200 and change is going to be more like $300 and change.

My suggestion is to find a better avenue than the Red Cross for donations. According to my pastor, an individual can donate up to $600 and have half of it matched. If you're interested in donating through the ELCA instead, I can try to find out specifics for you. Even if you don't want to let the Lutherans get credit for sending the money, I think a religious organization would be a better choice. They will send money earmarked for disaster relief to disaster relief, and more of it will get to helping the people who need it.

Edit

Here's some more information about going through the ELCA:
http://www.elca.org/disaster/article.asp?id=47&mode=3

It sounds like matching part of it is something outside of the ELCA, and I'm not sure if you could qualify. If you wanted to use that program, I know we could work out a way anyhow, and if you didn't, I'm sure there are similar programs from other groups.

This post has been edited by karasuman on 5th September 2005 00:21

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

Thanks for the suggestion, Karabeth, but I believe that we will simply stick with the Red Cross for now. The administrative costs will be quite miniscule compared to the mass donations that they will be receiving, and I have my own faith in them to properly begin handle the humanitarian issue at hand.

Of course, if anyone would like to have their money refunded, I have not yet claimed it to my paypal and it can be reversed. Otherwise, I will send the donation in our name tomorrow.

Thanks!

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

OK, I had some delays in getting this sorted due to confusion with Paypal, lots of work to do, and my own big pile of junk that I had to deal with. I got it all donated today, though, with a total of $230.00 (I made it an even number, thanks you guys who donated odd numbers of cents. ). I think we did pretty well, all things considered!

Thanks everyone who donated!

This post has been edited by Rangers51 on 12th September 2005 16:58

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?