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Emergency/Disaster Mini-Sites

April 28 Tornadoes - Donations and Volunteers

How You Can Help
Donate Wisely
Volunteer to Help

How You Can Help

The most effective way to help disaster victims is to make a financial contribution to a local charity or faith-based response group of your choice.

Cash donations help organizations avoid the labor and expense of sorting, packing, transporting and distributing donated goods, and recognized voluntary relief agencies can use cash to meet victims’ specific needs more quickly.

Remember to donate first through recognized local faith-based response groups and charity organizations. Donations can be made at the local level or through an organizations’ national Web site. When donating at the national level, designate whenever possible those local chapters working on the April Tornado Response and Recovery efforts.

List of responding organizations provided by Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD):

American Red Cross – Suffolk, Southeast, Petersburg and Greater Richmond Chapters
http://www.redcross.org
Salvation Army
http://www.salvationarmy.org
Virginia Beach SPCA
http://www.vbspca.com
Federation of Virginia Food Banks
http://www.foodbankonline.org
Catholic Charities of Eastern Virginia
http://www.cceva.org
Lutheran Disaster Response & Lutheran Family Services of Virginia
http://www.ldr.org
Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia
http://www.sbcv.org
Virginia Baptist Mission Board
http://www.vbmb.org
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
http://www.pcusa.org
Virginia United Methodist Church Conference Disaster Response
http://www.vaumc.org
Adventist Community Services
http://www.communityservices.org
United Way of Central Virginia
http://www.unitedwaycv.org/
United Way of the Virginia Peninsula
http://www.uwvp.org/
United Way of South Hampton Roads
http://www.unitedwayshr.org
Mennonite Disaster Service
http://www.mds.mennonite.net

For a complete listing of state and national voluntary organizations active in disasters please visit http://www.nvoad.org.

Donate Wisely

As residents begin rebuilding in the Commonwealth of Virginia following the April tornadoes, we encourage everyone to contribute wisely towards recovery efforts. Keep the following in mind when you consider donating goods, money or your time:

Financial contributions are preferred.
Cash donations help to avoid the labor and expense of sorting, packing, transporting and distributing donated goods, and voluntary relief agencies can use cash to meet victims' specific needs more quickly.
Donate through an experienced organization.
Relief agencies prefer the versatility of cash donations. However, some may have the infrastructure in place to store and distribute donated goods. To prevent waste, donations of goods should be made only to agencies that have requested specific items.
Confirm the need before collecting.
Donors should be wary of anyone who claims that “everything” is needed. Many groups have been disappointed that their efforts and the goods they collected were not appreciated. A community hit by disaster, however, does not have the time, manpower or money to dispose of unneeded donations. Get precise information before collecting any donated goods.
Volunteer wisely to help others.
In a community struggling to respond to and recover from a disaster, an influx of unexpected or unneeded volunteers and donations can make the process even more difficult. Before traveling to the disaster area to help, learn if, where and when your skills will be needed. Discuss with volunteer organizers how your needs for food, water and shelter will be met while you are volunteering.

Volunteer to Help

As mentioned above, an influx of unexpected volunteers can cause complications during the recovery process. Please speak with a volunteer organization before you go to the scene to volunteer. Additionally, we encourage you to affiliate with a voluntary organization with a response mission, such as those listed on the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster Web site.

United Way of South Hampton Roads is coordinating volunteer efforts in Suffolk. If you or a group of volunteers would like to participate in ongoing efforts, visit http://www.unitedwayshr.org.