Like a Good Neighbor, The Disaster Network is
There
When disaster strikes close to home, many people feel compelled
to help by sending food and clothing or by showing up in person to
provide assistance, but the Disaster News Network has a message for
them: stay home and send money. Of course, saying that in a nice
way isn’t always easy.
The Disaster News Network (DNN) is nonprofit online news service
that covers disasters from the day they happen until the last
volunteer team leaves the scene. They get the story out to the
public and serve as the eyes and ears of professional responders,
writes Jason Zasky of Failure magazine. They’ve seen
first-hand how people who just want to help can end up doing more
harm than good. DNN officials say many people with good intentions
send an overabundance of unneeded items that have to be stored and
redistribute and suggest that people who really want to help should
send money to one of the disaster response organizations. A list of
the most efficient and effective organizations can be found on
DNN’s Web site.
If people feel a need to do more than send money, they can show up
and volunteer, but they should wait a couple of months. By that
time all of the volunteers who flocked to the scene of the disaster
will have gone home and there will be more than enough work to
do.
–Nick Garafola
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