<p>i've only given 5 dollars to the student council members who carry the tin cans around at school, i need to give more.</p>
<p>well pebbles, Indonesia cares enough about their country that they want all foreigners out by March 31, and preferably earlier.</p>
<p>No way the job will be close to finished by then.</p>
<p>I don't see any sort of a correlation there. If they are talking about the vacationers - they... should... go home to their families. There's not food or water enough to go aroudn as it is.</p>
<p>If they are referring to the civil strife between the rebels and the government in Indonesia, </p>
<p>"But Mucksalmina said that foreigners had nothing to fear from them and that the group's top leadership had issued orders not to harm any aid workers. He said the group was thankful for the help to Aceh from foreigners, including Americans, whose military helicopters full of aid supplies buzz nonstop to the areas most affected.</p>
<p>"I am very grateful and thank the Americans and the rest of the world that when they saw this disaster they worked directly to help," he said, guarded by more than a dozen other armed men, some with grenades pinned to their shirts, on a small clearing that separated a grove of woods and acres of rice paddies." - NYTimes</p>
<p>"Before the tsunami, Aceh was virtually sealed off to foreigners. Martial law was declared in May 2003 and relaxed to a state of "civil emergency" the following year, as the estimated 30,000 to 40,000 troops severely weakened the rebels.</p>
<p>With the spread of foreigners throughout Aceh in the last two weeks, aid workers say, the strict control imposed by the military has necessarily been eased and relief operations have gone ahead without any interference." - more NYTimes</p>
<p>I'll be honest, after all the money problems after 9/11 happened, I've been a little reluctant to donate money. Thank you guys for suggesting organizations such as Direct Relief where the money will DEFINITELY go to the victims</p>
<p>I donated around 400 dollars. Plan on donating some more. This catastrophic event deserves every help it can possibly recieve.</p>
<p>my family donated 1.5k</p>
<p>LdyWASP - you just need to be VERy careful where you put your money. All the organizations mentioned here are internationally recognized and the best charities in the world. <a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org%5B/url%5D">www.charitynavigator.org</a> is a great site that will tell you everything about these organizations and rate them as well.</p>
<p>To all the wonderful people who have donated - don't forget to spread the word. The help is pouring in from America - not as much from the government as from the citizens :)</p>
<p>ahh I just gave Red Cross two of my pay checks! I really wish I could give more. Someone I know was actually in Thailand when it hit. His Christmas vacation was what you saw on CNN. I'm trying to get my school to donate, but lots of people have already given money to a local charity. Anyway, just reporting in </p>
<p>:-)</p>
<p>:D</p>
<p>and a bump</p>
<p>Yea, i saw in Newsweek they had a thing that said the % that goes to the organization. Some were pretty small %'s.</p>
<p>...........</p>
<p>Yes, I have.</p>
<p>I don't work, am a student, and donated $15 for the relief. I heard they already "had enough" but the more the merrier...</p>
<p>That 15 came from my birthday money-christmas money, etc. </p>
<p>If philanthropy was offered as a MAJOR it would be my number one choice of interest....</p>
<p>but too bad, huh.</p>
<p>The relief effort is a joke usually. This is the exact reason why I donate to local charities.</p>
<p>Local charities definitely need your money too - but no one forced you to choose between donating locally and donating globally. They have pretty much closed down the region affected by the tsunami to most organizations from other countries - only the biggest and most established have been allowed in because of the civil unrest. The local charities aren't the ones granted entry into these regions that need the most help. </p>
<p>And baller4lyfe- I'm not sure whom you spoke with but with non-profit charities, donations are their only sources of funds, so, there really is no such thing as "enough". If they have enough money to fund one project, they will move onto the rest. If they're "done" providing food and water (if that's... possible) they will most on to rebuilding and putting schools back together. There is always something more that needs funding, I can't see any organizations turning away donations.</p>
<p>who knows which organizations give absolutely 100% of donations to tsunami relief? it ****es me of that ones like american red cross and unisef only give like 10%!</p>
<p>I honestly dont have any clue where you got that idea, macramequeen, because you are very very misguided.</p>
<p>Both the American Red Cross and UNICEF put over 90% of all their funds to the relief effort. In addition, you can specify if you want 100% of your donation to be used in South Asia and they will honor your wishes. They are both NON-profit organizations, meaning no one is on top getting rich off everyone's donations. However, there are NO organization that could possibly use 100% of donations for their programs because they would not be very effective at all. 1) These programs don't run themselves. It is a full-time job delivering materials, food, and help all around the world. Its full-time employees are paid their fair wages. 2) Things like advertisement, just getting the word out there, getting the organization's name out there. More recognition = more donations = better programs.</p>