[PGR88]

Just pray for them. Japan, for all its problems, is in pretty good shape. It has a smart, educated populace who are cooperating and not rioting. Its infrastructure is top-notch. The electricity is on everywhere and besides some short-term panic, things are running normally (except in Sendai, of course)

They have Trillions of dollars, so much so that any extra aid the USA offers them, will probably have to be borrowed from Japanese or Chinese in the first place!!

[Freddd]

I stopped giving to the Red Cross personally after the 9-11 debacle, learning they were Union and stopped delivering blood over contract negotiation failures-

‘Red Cross blood operations workers are on strike after a year of failed negotiations.

More than 1,000 union workers in six different states have stepped off the job and taken the picket line.-2010

But mostly I stopped donating to the Red Cross because they will change their decades old symbol, BECAUSE IT OFFENDS MUSLIMS.

I do donate to Samaritan’s purse, with Franklin Graham.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Caritas International/ CRS /Caritas Japan

Rating of "A" from American Institute of Philanthropy

Extremely Low overhead--- Already on the ground ---Serves all with no discrimination --- Action teams reaching people with supplies despite destroyed infrastructure

Donate by Phone

Call

1-800-736-7090

from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Donate by Mail

Mail check or money order to Catholic Relief Services 228 W. Lexington St. Baltimore, Maryland 21201-3443 | 888-277-7575 in the memo portion of the check write Japan emergency.

Donate by Internet Secure Server (Click)

https://secure.caritas.org/donation.aspx?DonationTo=E&Emergency=34

Donate Direct to Japan

Caritas Japan
Japan Catholic Center
2-10-10 Shiomi
Koto-ku, Tokyo
135-8585 JAPAN

Phone: 81-3-5632-4439
FAX: 81-3-5632-4464

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

SamaritansPurse.org is a class act, very effective and efficient.

[presently no screen name]

Samaritan’s Purse.

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

[Gamecock]

Mission to the World, the missions arm of the Presbyterian Church of America, has been on the ground since the beginning.

Search keyword japandaniverson for daily FR updates.
Granted this is a smaller group, but they are fully engaged and in it for the long haul.

[A Navy Vet]

The SALVATION ARMY is the best international charitable organization out there. They may have originated as Christian missionary organization, but they are now more about helping people in dire need.
Disclaimer: I'm an agnostic, so I don't care either way about their faith-based history.

However, I do know that more of your $$$ will go directly to Japan's situation then the Red Cross, and they won't hoard nor re-direct your donations to their pet causes.

Ever since the Red Cross had to be shamed into finally disbursing the donations for 9/11 families by the modern media, I no longer trust them. Sure, they do good, but they have high salaried people at the top and other expensive administrative costs. You probably get about 97% of your dollar going where you designate it with the SALVATION ARMY. Great organization and never heard a bad word about them.

Donate HERE

[FReepaholic]

Charity Navigator

"Charity Navigator, America's premier independent charity evaluator, works to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the financial health of over 5,500 of America's largest charities."

[Abigail Adams]

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

[Biggirl]

Faith-based organizations are the best.

The best thing though, as one of the posters have said, is to pray.

[MayflowerMadam]

Salvation Army is always safe. We try to channel our donations throughour local SBC church to be sure the money ends up where it’s supposed to.

Salvation Army does great work, but they’re not in to tooting their own horn so there’s not a lot of media coverage. Ditto for Southern Baptist Convention; seems that the SBC people are usually first on the scene for disasters. Again, they don’t get the press because they’re not glamorous.

[snowsislander]

I have personally visited the Salvation Army building in Jimbocho (a famous place to buy books by the way in Tokyo), about a decade ago.

The Salvation Army has Japanese staff on the ground in Japan, which is an enormous advantage.

[HalfFull]

Food for the Hungry ( http://www.fh.org/ ) is great. A charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, more than 93% of donations go out to the field. Very low overhead costs.

[PGalt]

Thanks for asking/posting. GRRRREAT thread! Thanks to all posters.

BUMP for Japan!

[HardStarboard]

I'll put in a word for "Team Rubicon". They are a group of former military batlefield medics and lots of other volunteers like firemen and police as well as Doctors that came together spontaneously after the Haiti Quake.

As they put it: "We bridge the gap between catastrophe and large-scale response, uniting military veterans with medical professionals".

Their speciality is disaster "triage" = first line care before the full fledged medical teams can become effective.

They have elected to "stand down" in the Japan disaster because of the strong medical infrastructure in place and relatively few survivors who need "battlefield type" medical attention. Pics from Haiti showing them splinting a little girls broken leg with cardboard and duct tape speak to their "get it done" attitude.

They are conserving their funds for events that need their type of skills - Haiti, Pakistan, Chile, Sudan, Burma...etc.

They are a grassroots, can-do bunch. I suggest you check out their website....I believe they are as efficient with their donations as anyone on the planet. Somewhere on their website you might find a story of them fighting with the US State Dept. in Haiti who tried to confiscate supplies sent to Rubicon for the...yep - US Consular staff!

http://teamrubiconusa.org/bios/