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Disaster
Donations
Getting
the Facts before You Act
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Introduction
The sad fact is, disasters are inevitable. Somewhere, in some capacity,
there is going to be a disaster that requires a community to reach
out for assistance. How that assistance arrives and is provided
to the victims, is a constant challenge.
As Americans, we are some of the most generous people in the
world. We want to help communities and citizens recover after
a disaster. Unfortunately, unsolicited donations or spontaneous
volunteers arriving on scene, may inadvertently make the situation
worse by creating a “disaster within a disaster.”
This article is designed to provide the reader with basic information
on donations and the steps that can be taken to ensure donations
are meaningful to the victims and not an added burden on the
relief operations.
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What is a disaster within a disaster?
The disaster within a disaster is created when an event or action intended to
help a disaster situation actually adds to the problem. In the case of donations,
the sequence of events starts with well meaning individuals and/or groups,
who rally their communities and collect donations that they feel would benefit
the victims. Unfortunately since the majority of these efforts take place without
verification of the actual need, truckloads of unannounced and most often needless
items, start arriving at the disaster site.
Disaster workers which are already working under difficult conditions are
now faced with an even more monumental task of sorting through the newly
arriving donations to determine if they are needed items, and more importantly
if they are safe.
In large scale disasters or even smaller ones that receive considerable
press coverage, donations can begin pouring in from everywhere inundating
the disaster management system. The volume of donations can easily, and in
most cases does, overwhelm the system while at the same time not meeting
the actual need of the victims. |
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