The Crisis in Pakistan: What you can do to help.

[dadevvtsvre]

Let me preface this by saying it is a very serious topic. Please don't spam!

Most of you have heard about the devastating flooding that's occuring in Pakistan right now. However, I think what most people fail to realize is just how incredibly disastrous these floods are - or rather, will be.

At least 2 000 people have been killed by the torrential downpours that have affected northern Pakistan. Hundreds of villages and thousands of homes wiped out completely. Innumerable people are now homeless and have been displaced as a result of the floods. Pakistan, as is, has very little arable land, and with the floods any left is all but gone.

The worst is yet to come. As we saw with Cyclone Nargis in 2008, thousands more were killed not from the floods themselves but from the disease and fatal infections that resulted, not even including the famines that will inevitably come.

Listen. I know we're all cash-strapped and broke right now. Who isn't? But you'd be lying if you said you couldn't afford to give at least $10 or $20 in support of these organizations. If it takes skipping your afternoon burrito for a week to donate, so be it! But there's no excuse for refusing to give money to these that really need it.

I'm not trying to be a ~*~model citizen~*~ or anything, just encouraging you guys to donate because I know you're all more than capable. My family's donated $50 - not a whole lot, but it's something. You guys should too! These floods are being underrepresented right now imo and with the coming famine and plagues sure to result, thousands need serious help. (just think if the money used to buy Despain an Xbox could've gone to Pakistan instead)

So what are your options?

• Red Cross: Pretty much goes without saying, but Red Cross is a fantastic organization that does a lot of fantastic things. If you're unsure of the legitimacy of other organizations, donate here and get fuzzy feelings.
  
• AVAAZ: 100% of the money donated to AVAAZ goes directly towards relief efforts.
  
• Doctors Without Borders: Although you won't be donating directly to the Pakistan relief, Doctors Without Borders has done amazing work in past disasters, such as the Haiti earthquake. They've an international organization working in more than 60 countries providing medical attention to those that desperately need it.

If you donate, feel free to post how much here, and tell others about it too! This isn't a place to brag about how much you donated though. That just makes you a massive patoot.

Spread the word, guys. Thanks.

 

[moxie]

jeez, I had no idea it was so serious - I try to take a cursory glance at the news in the morning to stay up to date, but not much more than that.

which organization did you guys donate to? I could definitely spare 20$ or more, otherwise I'd just be spending it on clothes or videogames or some shit

 

[dadevvtsvre]

we donated to the canadian red cross because the canadian government is pledging to match the country's donations dollar for dollar, which is pretty awesome! i put up the other links just to remind everybody that they're not the only organization needing help, though.

 

[Jason]

I don't believe in charities, since I highly doubt that 100% of the money would go to the people who need it, heck, I bet even 50% doesn't go to them, it's just a scam in my eyes, and they'll probably send a few packs over to make the doners happy...

I know people will say I'm wrong and this that and the other, but meh, that's how I see it. Unless I were able to see every penny I gave going towards the cause, I wouldn't bother donating.

 

[Daxis]

better 10 cents go to a starving family than 0 cents. no seriously us dollars and british pounds are worth huge in such countries.

i really don't control any money in the house, and my parents really aren't the donating type especially with internet paypal shit so uh /hypocrisy

 

[moxie]

nah, you're welcome to your opinion - there are quite a few bunk charities, but tbh the Red Cross is so renowned I'm more inclined to trust it. unless they're completely non-profit and supported by the gov'mint they're obviously going to take something out of the donation, but you really can't fault them because they probably need it to keep going. idk, maybe I'm too naive/idealistic.

 

[dadevvtsvre]

Listen. If you have a roof over your head, and have eaten today, there's no reason for you not to donate.

I don't believe in charities, since I highly doubt that 100% of the money would go to the people who need it, heck, I bet even 50% doesn't go to them, it's just a scam in my eyes, and they'll probably send a few packs over to make the doners happy...

I know people will say I'm wrong and this that and the other, but meh, that's how I see it. Unless I were able to see every penny I gave going towards the cause, I wouldn't bother donating.

this is a retarded reason not to donate. Nobody cares whatever fallacies and excuses you're setting up in your head. I won't sugar coat it and say that 100% of the money is going directly to relief efforts, but is donating nothing helping either? Nothing you say is a valid reason for not donating.

Pakistan donated $1.5 million to the US in Katrina relief funds. That's astronomical considering their GDP compared to ours. Why not give back?

Daxis, sorry to hear about your parents. Is there no way you can convince them to give something?

Apologies if I sound a bit snarky but if everybody who set up bullshit excuses gave $20 instead, there could be a lot more healthy people out there.

 

[Jason]

Listen. If you have a roof over your head, and have eaten today, there's no reason for you not to donate.

I don't believe in charities, since I highly doubt that 100% of the money would go to the people who need it, heck, I bet even 50% doesn't go to them, it's just a scam in my eyes, and they'll probably send a few packs over to make the doners happy...

I know people will say I'm wrong and this that and the other, but meh, that's how I see it. Unless I were able to see every penny I gave going towards the cause, I wouldn't bother donating.

this is a retarded reason not to donate. Nobody cares whatever fallacies and excuses you're setting up in your head. I won't sugar coat it and say that 100% of the money is going directly to relief efforts, but is donating nothing helping either? Nothing you say is a valid reason for not donating.

Pakistan donated $1.5 million to the US in Katrina relief funds. That's astronomical considering their GDP compared to ours. Why not give back?

Daxis, sorry to hear about your parents. Is there no way you can convince them to give something?

Apologies if I sound a bit snarky but if everybody who set up bullshit excuses gave $20 instead, there could be a lot more healthy people out there.

Wow devy, no need to be a dick about it...

And by the way, the whole think about Pakistan and US, I'm not from either of those so why should I give something back when they gave nothing to me in return?

If I don't want to donate money, that's my choice, and I don't see why someone like you should attempt to force me to...

 

[dadevvtsvre]

And by the way, the whole think about Pakistan and US, I'm not from either of those so why should I give something back when they gave nothing to me in return?

simple answer: because you can and people need help.

sorry, I know I'm being kind of prudish. i don't really mean to force you either but in my mind, if you have the means to donate there's no reason not to. but alright, i'll shut up about it.

 

[Daxis]

my parents really aren't the type that would really respond to this- sure my dad often listens to the radio driving places every now and then (and actually understand english unlike my mom :\), so if it actually concerned him, he'd have brought up some kind of issue to talk about it, even if he doesn't do anything.
And I think i'll take back my statement about my parents not being the donating type. They donate/give money to people they KNOW. They give money to ASIANS and those RELATED TO THEIR CULTURE (ie pure south vietnam that believe only in their types of beliefs and shit)- pretty much no one else. Seriously they gave away a fairly large amount of money in vietnam. Did they donate to katrina? 9/11? Haiti? No, NONE of that, and I'm quite sure they never will.
Additionally, they don't trust the internet buying and stuff too much at all, and I can almost guarentee they don;t know anything about paypal. My sister handles those matters. So er yeah.

I don't like thinking about things like this too much because there's futility in what i can do to help. I never actualy spend money, quite literally ever, and i have some extra crap lying around, so i guess devy;s so serious about this, i might have an idea to do something. Maybe, probably not.

 

[moxie]

it would be pretty lol for me to get preachy because it took a post on the internet to get me to donate anything, but, try to think of it this way - if nothing else, you could donate a few bucks and feel good about yourself, maybe get some good karma if that's your thing. the "what's in it for me?" attitude is so easy to fall back on because most of us lead comparatively comfortable lives.

boring personal anecdote time~ when I was 11, my family's house and all our stuff got destroyed by a tornado. we were in and out of homeless shelters and living in a car for the better part of a month, and even then we were better off than a lot of people. finally we were able to get our life back thanks to the charity of complete strangers. when you've lived through that kinda crap and seen communities wrecked it's hard to ignore, and what I went through was absolutely minuscule compared to this

 

[moog]

i just saw you put this up on FB dev, im gonna throw in some dough when i get my check this week.

 

[mawk]

If I don't want to donate money, that's my choice, and I don't see why someone like you should attempt to force me to...

yeah sorry for physically holding you at gunpoint bro. you're not required to donate to this but don't pretend you have some bullshit moral reason for it okay? the least you can do is own up to your own decisions.

I'm sort of surprised I haven't heard more about this, since we know a lot of people in Pakistan. I'm sort of bummed that they don't take debit or paypal, though. I already do a monthly thing with Red Cross but it doesn't seem like that'd totally cut it.

 

[bacon]

I didnt realize how bad this was either. Im going to try to start a fund-raiser at school to see what I can to do help the efforts. Im sure Key Club will be able to do something as well. Im definitely going to try to donate.

 

[Jason]

If I don't want to donate money, that's my choice, and I don't see why someone like you should attempt to force me to...

yeah sorry for physically holding you at gunpoint bro. you're not required to donate to this but don't pretend you have some bullshit moral reason for it okay? the least you can do is own up to your own decisions.

Umm, excuse me?

I'm not pretending I have a moral reason, I simply just don't give to charities unless I know that every penny I give is going to a good cause, if I donate £20 to this, I want to know they've used it ALL, not just £10 of it or less and kept the rest for themselves, otherwise I'd just have donated that much in the first place.

Seriously, you two are acting stupid, if I don't want to donate I don't want to donate, and that's the end of it...

 

[Ellie]

Apparently Britain's donations so far equate to £0.50 per person (or £30 million). I know for a fact nobody in my family has donated - so that's four - and to be honest £0.50 isn't really that much to donate if it would mean doubling our efforts so far.

Normally I'd be with the masses and be all "I don't want to donate because it's not my problem", but throwing away a quid, or even half that, to potentially help a lot of people is just so small and insignificant that I think everyone can do it.

 

[Venetia]

I had no idea it was so bad either.

--Oh yeah Doctors Without Borders is an amazing organization.

Some others to check out:

CARE - Always one of the highest-rated relief organizations.

International Medical Corps - Very much like DWB.

International Rescue Committee - One of the oldest/most respected charities.

Wildlife Conservation Network - (If you're uninterested in human relief efforts) They haven't updated their site yet but their organization is hugely respected for their emergency wildlife relief efforts and one of the few international wildlife conservation funds that really controls its internal spending.

I'm going to kick in some cash to CARE when my next paycheck hits. They focus a lot especially on womens' rights and natal care, and provide education on them, which is something vastly overlooked in that part of the world.

 

[Ellie]

I support International Rescue in everything they do.

Spoiler

They showed a photo on the news of a Hospital that had been hit by the floods -- there was no rubble, no foundations, nothing. Just soil. Just... well, absolutely no sign that life had even been there.

 

[Venetia]

Also, if you're unsure about a charity, look it up here:

http://www.charitynavigator.org/ - In the US
http://www.intelligentgiving.com/ - In the UK

You want to be sure your funds aren't simply lining someone's wallet.

 

[Twirly]

Man I am so glad someone made this b/c a lot of people have no idea how serious this is...
My parents regularly donate some money to the red cross, I have been considering donating a bit myself (not a lot obviously, maybe something like 20 bucks).

Wow devy, no need to be a dick about it...

He was right though it is a bullshit excuse, and nobody's trying to force you to donate. But yeah I think people should donate man, like dadevster said I'm not trying to be some kind of goddamn model citizen but if all people (or even just half of them or a third) from economically stable countries would donate $5 (I mean come on $5, that's nothing) that would make a nice sum and it would help those poor people. You know if we keep going like this, not caring at all, we might be the next one caught by a flood or anything else and guess what? Nobody is there to help you.

• Red Cross: Pretty much goes without saying, but Red Cross is a fantastic organization that does a lot of fantastic things. If you're unsure of the legitimacy of other organizations, donate here and get fuzzy feelings.

• 
  Red Cross makes me a bit proud to live in Switzerland (kinda spammy but i had to do this).