We all want to help our Texas neighbors. In deciding where to donate toward Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, I like my tried and true charities for disaster relief: Catholic Charities USA and The Salvation Army. The Red Cross is very a very worthy charity, too, but I can live without the additional emails and snail mails I know I'll get if I begin donating there, also. (That's no doubt selfish of me, but that's a tangent for another post.)Over the years, through disasters near and far, once I had settled upon these two charities that I'm comfortable with (and resigned to receiving mail from), I've stayed with them.
If you are planning to contribute to a charity in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, it's always worthwhile to remind ourselves that disasters bring out the worst in bad people. To be sure that our financial donation goes to where it should go to do the most good for the most people, a little research goes a long way. If you're new to charitable giving, be sure that the organization you choose is one you don't mind receiving endless correspondence from for many years to come. Because I promise you, they will never, ever lose your address.However, emails, cards, and letters are a small inconvenience to bear in exchange for the huge feeling of spiritual satisfaction we will feel by doing something good to help others who are in urgent and painful need in our hard and hurting world.
