Contents on this page:         How to help kids cope with disasters     How you can help        

How you can help...

MONETARY AND OTHER TYPES OF DONATIONS

• Homes/motor homes to share with evacuees – Please call 2-1-1, a social service agency that is tracking San Diegans’ interest in opening their homes to evacuees.  Please understand that evacuees may have several options for housing, one of which may be sharing a home.
• The Red Cross cannot accept clothing and goods – We provide evacuees with credit cards/vouchers to purchase their own new clothes. This is one of the first decisions that the evacuees will have made since they lost everything in the Hurricane and a very important part of the healing process.  
• Where you can take clothing, blankets and household items - Horizon Christian Fellowship (HCF) will accept donations of food, toiletries, nearly new clothing and toys for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.  HCF is located at 8888 Balboa Ave. (in Clairmont), can be reached at 858-277-4991 or www.horizonsd.org.  Any items not used by the evacuees will be donated to San Diego Homeless.
• Food donations – The San Diego Food Bank is collecting non-perishable foods and collaborating with Second Harvest to provide food to the affected areas.  Residents can drop off food and supply donations at 9850 Distribution Avenue (Miramar area), Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., by calling toll free 1-866-350-FOOD (3663) or visiting www.sandiegofoodbank.org.
• Monetary donations may be made directly at www.redcross.org or by calling 1-800-HELP-NOW.  Donors can also access information about Katrina at our chapter website at www.sdarc.org.
• Donors who want to provide a donation by check, should do so by mailing a check to:  American Red Cross, Disaster Relief Fund (Hurricane Katrina), P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.
• Donors who want to hand in donations in person, can visit our Red Cross headquarters at 3950 Calle Fortunada, San Diego, CA 92123 or can call our office at 858-309-1200.
• Receipts for donations – Donors will receive a receipt for the donation in the mail but please know that as a result of the volume of donations it may take several weeks to receive the receipt. 

FUNDRAISING EVENTS

• Groups that want to fundraise for Katrina evacuees – The quickest way for community and school groups to raise funds is to hold an event, indicate that the proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross for Katrina relief efforts, collect the funds and then make one donation to the Red Cross from the coordinating organization.  The group making the donation will receive a receipt.  Please make sure that your donors understand, that anyone making a cash donation to the organization’s fundraising event will not receive an individual receipt from the Red Cross as we will not be able to track who made each of the individual donations.  Only cash donations made directly to a Red Cross office, staff/volunteer or event, will receive a receipt. 
• Collection boxes/containers – We are not able to provide Red Cross collection boxes.  If you chose to use a collection box at your office or store, please mark it clearly that the funds raised will be donated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina via the American Red Cross, but that donors will not be issued a receipt. 
• Matching gift program – Employers may want to consider matching their employee contributions and employees may want to check to see if their employer has a matching gift program so that their contributions are matched.

OTHER WAYS TO HELP

• Volunteer – Disaster relief efforts will likely go on for months.  The Red Cross needs volunteers to answer phone calls, to take donations, to assist with events, etc.  People interested in volunteering should sign up on the Volunteer Resources page of our website at www.sdarc.org/volunteer or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS. 

• Give Blood - The current blood supply is sufficient to meet immediate need in the affected areas.  However, we are asking people to donate blood to replenish the current inventory.  To make an appointment to donate blood, please call 1.800.GIVE.LIFE.

• Blood Drives – Businesses and community groups interested in hosting a blood mobile or blood drive should contact Blood Services at 858-514-1635.
• Get trained – San Diegans interested in assisting victims of disasters can visit the Red Cross website and sign up for classes so that they are trained in first aid, CPR, and disaster response so that they can be part of our trained group of volunteers who respond to local, national and international disasters.

Thank you for your support of The American Red Cross and the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Helping Kids Cope With Disasters

Please refer to the following list of resources, furnished by members of ALA's Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).

Web Sites for Helping Teens & Children Cope with Disaster:

YALSA: Dealing with Tragedy & Terror
http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/profdev/dealingtragedy.htm
Coping with Disaster: Tips for Young Adults
http://www.nmha.org/reassurance/youngadults.cfm
NAEP: Disaster, Helping Children Cope
http://www.naspcenter.org/safe_schools/coping.html
AAP Offers Advice on Communicating with Children about Disasters
http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/disastercomm.htm
Children, Stress and Natural Disasters (resources for educators)
http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~disaster/teacher/teacher.html
David Baldwin's Trauma Information: Disaster Handouts and Links
http://www.trauma-pages.com/pg5.htm
Disaster Recovery: Children's Needs
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/fcs/human/disint.html
Helping Children After a Disaster
http://www.aacap.org/publications/factsfam/disaster.htm
Helping Children Handle Disaster Related Anxiety
http://www.nmha.org/reassurance/children.cfm
NIMH: Helping Children Cope with Violence and Disasters
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/violence.cfm#viol8
PrepareRespondRecover.com: Children's Needs
http://www.preparerespondrecover.com/childrensneeds/index.html
NASP: Coping in Unsettling Times
http://www.nasponline.org/NEAT/unsettlingtimes.html
Natural Disasters: Relief Efforts, eThemes (resources for educators)
http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00000390.shtml