Rev. Roger Reece, Executive Pastor of Associated Churches of Fort Wayne and Allen County, is advising that congregations and their members continue to “Pray, pay, and stay” in response to the tornado disaster in Moore, Oklahoma. In a news release, Reece explained why Associated Churches recommends monetary donations vs. sending goods and discussed the importance of affiliating with a coordinated relief organization before traveling to the disaster area. Read the news release.
The Indiana State Police (ISP) issued a warning today regarding con artists soliciting donations for Oklahoma tornado victims. The warning reads, “Hoosiers should be aware of people taking the opportunity in light of the recent catastrophic events in Oklahoma to play on the generosity of those willing to help out monetarily. Citizens are cautioned to be skeptical of those going from door-to-door or making individual phone calls to residents claiming to be collecting for tornado relief.” See the entire ISP warning.
As I wrote in an earlier post, if you don’t already have a favorite national response organization (e.g. the disaster response branch of your church denomination), a good way to choose a recipient for your donation is to visit the website of National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) and choose one of its member organizations. NVOAD members include the American Red Cross, Salvation Army and other well-known and lesser-known national organizations who respond to disasters.
I realize that most readers of this blog are quite some distance from Oklahoma City, but my emergency management training nonetheless prompts me to write this. I want to help Moore and Oklahoma City recover from yesterday’s tragic and devastating tornado. You probably do, too. But unless you are part of a coordinated response, you’ll do more harm than good if you travel to the disaster area or send donated items there. That’s true no matter what special skills you have.
Emergency managers have a term for what happens when uncoordinated people or goods show up: “the second disaster.” Dealing with the second disaster can draw resources away from people in need. In some cases, so many uncoordinated goods (clothing, etc.) have arrived at disaster scenes that officials had no choice but to throw them in piles until they could be dumped in landfills. Uncoordinated volunteers likewise have gotten in the way, unintentionally interfering with recovery efforts and in many cases finding themselves with nothing helpful to do.
So what can you do? Here are my suggestions:
Do any of the three things above and you can have a positive impact on the victims of the Oklahoma tornado, without contributing to a second disaster.