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Disaster
Donations
Getting
the Facts before You Act
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Continued from the previous page
To compound the situation, disaster managers and even community
leaders within the stricken community are placed in a difficult position
of eliminating the volume of unused or un-needed items in a way
that
does not give the appearance of being ungrateful. This, as many
communities stricken by disasters have discovered, can lead to a
public relations nightmare.
Remember, unsolicited donated goods must be collected, sorted,
checked for safety, labeled, packed, transported, unloaded, resorted,
relabeled and redistributed. This takes volunteers away from working
with victims one-on-one.
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What are Donations?
Donations can cover a wide range of items including, but not limited to: money,
food, clothing, blood, pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and a host of other
materials,
equipment,
and supplies.
In order for a donation to be useful it needs to reflect the need of the
victims. Fewer and fewer cases of tangible donations are considered acceptable
in a disaster. Donations are viewed by emergency planners and groups
involved in donations management as “solicited” and “unsolicited”.
Solicited donations are generally those items or services that organizations
directly involved with the disaster have requested to aid in the response
to stricken community. But, even solicited donations can present problems.
Verify who is making the solicitation. Just as unsolicited donations are
made by
well meaning persons so can solicitations. A person or
persons presenting themselves as a representative of the stricken community
often makes a solicitation, but does so without working within the emergency
management structure, which can create just as great of a problem as those
typically seen with unsolicited donations.
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