Sandy-gram

[#1]

As the images poured in after Friday’s 8.9-magnitude quake and resulting tsunami, the world watched in disbelief and horror as cars, homes and neighborhoods were swept out to sea. The devastation to life and property is catastrophic, and the news continues to be heart wrenching as we see families searching for missing relatives. The newest concern with the nuclear power plants has significantly added challenges and another potential crisis.

(Photo at right by Kyodo via Reuters)

Visit MSNBC.com for current information and breaking news.  

Several organizations are helping victims Japan. Here's how you can help.

(Organization recommendations come from Suzanne Choney, MSNBC)

1. The American Red Cross. Using your cell phone, you can text-message donations of $10 to the agency. Text the letters REDCROSS to 90999 to make the $10 donation, or visit the organization's website.
2. The International Medical Corps is putting together relief teams, as well as supplies. The organization is in "contact with partners in Japan and other affected countries to assess needs and coordinate our activities,” said Nancy Aossey, IMC president, on its website. You can donate here. Or, you can text MED to 80888 to donate $10 to emergency relief efforts.
3. Save the Children is accepting donations for its Children's Emergency Fund. "We are extremely concerned for the welfare of children and their families who have been affected by the disaster. We stand ready to meet the needs of children who are always the most vulnerable in a disaster,' said Eiichi Sadamatsu of the organization in a statement. You can also text “JAPAN” or “TSUNAMI” to 20222 to donate $10.
4. GlobalGiving, based in Washington, D.C., is providing relief and emergency services to victims of the earthquake and tsunami. Text JAPAN to 50555 to donate $10.
5. The Salvation Army, which has had a presence in Japan since 1895. In Tokyo, the Salvation Army "opened its main building to help shelter commuters who were unable to reach home. They served hot drinks and packed meals," said a spokesperson. You can text JAPAN or QUAKE to 80888 to make a $10 donation to the Salvation Army’s relief efforts.
6. Mercy Corps  is "accepting donations to help survivors of Japan's earthquake and tsunami through our longstanding partner, Peace Winds Japan." Donations will go to meeting the "immediate and longer-term needs of the survivors," a spokesperson said. You can text “MERCY” to 25383 to donate $10.
7. World Vision, with a staff of 75 in Japan, focuses its relief efforts on children. Visit the website to donate, or call 1-888-56-CHILD (1-888-562-4453). You can text “4JAPAN” or “4TSUNAMI” to 20222 to donate $10.
8. Doctors Without Borders, an international group, already has teams working in Japan. The groups notes it is "drawing on unrestricted donations" given to it to fund its efforts, and "we are not accepting donations specifically earmarked for the recovery efforts in Japan. We greatly appreciate your generosity and encourage your support of our work. We will continue to post updates on our homepage, Facebook and Twitter as new information becomes available." To donate, call 1-888-392-0392.
9. Habitat for Humanity; donations accepted at website, or phone donations can be made by calling 1-800-HABITAT.
10. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF is raising funds to help children in Japan. Donations accepted at website, or by calling 1-800-367-5437.
11. AmeriCares has dispatched a disaster relief expert to the region to assess the health care needs and is prepared to send medicines, medical supplies and humanitarian aid as necessary. Phone number for donations: 203-658-9500.
12. International Rescue Committee, based in New York; Phone donations to: 1-877-733-8433. The organization is "dispatching IRC relief experts from our Thailand program to Japan to see how we can assist Japanese authorities in responding to the earthquake/tsunami disaster. We recognize Japan’s significant emergency response expertise, but will offer direct technical assistance and other emergency support.

Facebook has a Disaster Relief page with lots of good information about organizations that are offering aid, and that you can help, in turn.

To help you make decisions about donations, the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance offers tips on "Giving to Earthquake Relief Efforts in Japan." And another good website to check is Charity Navigator, a non-profit organization that has information on more than 5,000 charities and evaluates the groups' financial health.

[#2]

Thank you so much for such a comprehensive list of ways to proactively help. I know we are all grieving on their behalf and feeling a wealth of compassion, but I am thankful that there are also concrete ways to help. I also, in a more ideological way, really appreciate how many thousands of people are actively doing something to assist the Japanese in this horrible situation. For all the fighting with each other we seem to do as a species, it relieves me just a tiny bit when I see people across nations pulling together to help a distant neighbor.

[#3]

i agree, petgirl...given all the divisiveness in the world today it is heartwarming to see people caring about others in their time of need...the situation in japan seems particularly devastating given the double whammy of the earthquake and the tsunami...one horrible update i heard had to do with elderly people who managed to survive the earthquake and the tsunami but now are dying because they don't have their prescription medicines!!! i wonder if any of the groups mentioned above are handling that issue?

[#4]

What an incredibly helpful list!  Thank you so much. The situation is so devastating. I heard from some of the rescue workers who had been in Haiti and said as awful as that had been, this is so much worse because of the tsunami on top of the earthquake. But every now and then you hear about one of those miracles where someone survived impossible odds. But the horrible complication posed by the nuclear plant is almost unbelievable. And now people in the U.S. are starting to wonder whether our own power plants could withstand an earthquake or tornado or the like...

[#5]

I think the clear dangers of nuclear power, both in terms of natural disasters' effects on power plants and in terms of nuclear waste, are really starting to hit home. Given the new focus on green energy via solar and wind, I think we're finally catching up with much of the rest of the world. In the meantime the disasters in Japan are heartrending. It looks as though the nuclear leak has contaminated nearby food and water so that the people depending on food from that region are going to suffer long into the future! The horrors are almost unimaginable.

[#6]

I've been reading a lot about the contamination problems, too. I think we won't even know the true repercussions from the nuclear damage for years. As if the Japanese people in these areas didn't have enough to worry about!

[#7]

Thanks for all the good info.  I have to admit that I was rivited to the coverage, even at work.  The speed and ferocity of the tsunami was horrifying and the knowledge that there were real people suffering and dying as we watched was sobering to say the least.  I kept looking for someone to escape, survive against the odds and it is amazing to see some of the videos of the survivors.  Thankfully, the infrastructure that they have in place saved thousands of lives.  Imagine if that had hit the West coast of the US! 

[#8]

So many awful things have happened where we won't truly understand the repercussions for years to come, as Scout pointed out. This tragedy in Japan for one, the BP oil spill is another. I can't help feeling that the human species has become so cavalier with its treatment of the earth (and its oceans), that the earth is fighting back. We are slowly finding ways to kill off our own species - through pollution and its resultant toxicities, the food we eat, the ways we misuse energy. Unfortunately, we're taking other species with us into extinction, along with the environment. So sad that we are destroying ourselves, our fellow creatures and the planet. And what are we leaving our progeny - if they'll even survive with the scraps of planet and health that we haven't already abused? Sorry for the rant - it's a hot button with me. We humans do so many stupid things.

[#9]

So true, petgirl.  Along with the atrocities you've mentioned, there's also the damage being done to the rainforest. When you read about how many natural medicines exist there that are being destroyed bit by bit, it's really horrifying. I do think our children are more aware of some of these issues than we were at their age. Perhaps that's the hope we need....

[#10]

Since I like to tie everything to movies, wasn't the movie Wall-E (or however it was spelled) all about the environmental atrocities that petgirl was talking about? I haven't seen it yet, but I believe that's what I've heard. It's supposed to be very good and rather sobering. Can anyone confirm this?

[#11]

I haven't seen the film but I had heard the same thing. And as for destroying the rainforest and its natural medicines, we have also irrevocably destroyed so many species and altered entire ecosystems. It really is such an enormous tragedy, it surprises me that it is not more prevalent in people's minds.

[#12]

Japan is reeling from blow after blow.  More earthquakes in the past day.  Wow.  The eartquake counter at the USGS site is mind blowing!  On the subject of the environment, I don't think that mankind is 100% responsible for all the changes in the climate and so on.  I think it's definately a question of degree and I agree that we need to be more intelligent about how we operate businesses and expend resources.  Not to be controversial, but we've only been around (in a significant way) for a couple thousand years.  We are learning even if we don't have all the answers.  I would say that we don't know all the questions to ask, never mind knowing the answers.  We are learning the questions, slowly.  In some areas of the world there are still people who don't have electricity or fresh running water.  We have not yet come up with a system of government that is capable of providing for the common good of all humanity.  We are still a bunch of tribes trying to provide for our own while protecting our stuff from other tribes who want to do the same. Global responsibility is really a very recent phenomenon, historically speaking.

[#13]

While I would agree that mankind is not 100% responsible for global warming, rafferty seemed to indicate that was in part because we as a species hadn't been around in a significant way for more than a couple thousand years. I would argue that that's just not relevant. We've been around slowly building our cultural perception of our own spirituality for at least 35,000 years, and in the past couple thousand years that spirituality has become highly patriarchal, with a focus on a hierarchical perception of the earth and its creatures as something we could exploit as we chose. I would argue, however, that even with that build-up, it is only in the last 200 years that we have, as a species, done as much damage as we have to the environment and to its species. All around us the earth is protesting that we have ravaged her and disregarded her needs as a healthy planet. I'm sorry for the rant but it just really frosts my butt when people come across as if global warming was just something happening for the hell of it or because we were due for another major climate change or whatever. It's us. We have caused it. We have brought about destruction on the planet. We have caused the extinction of plant and animal species that will never be resurrected. We have done this. Let's at least take responsibility as we find ways to mitigate the damages.

[#14]

Ok, yes.  Whole species have passed from existence during our climb from the seas to the trees and beyond.  Not all of them because of us.  The more recent ones, yes.  I agree.  I understand that we have over fished, under planned, stripmined coal and pumped oil.  I understand that while the USA and Europe and some of Asia have started to wise up, most of the rest are clueless.  One of the problems is education, or lack thereof.  Basing our opinions on "the sky is falling" rationale would be, and is, just as foolish as not recognizing the problems to begin with.  Al Gore made a lot of money from his little film and he has since taken it on the chin for some pretty bad science.  Yes, there were truths in there, but he puffed it up a bit, too.  How can people take you at your word when some of what you are selling is proved to be incorrect?  One misrepresentation and you've shot yourself in the foot.   The charlatans give the doubters proof that they are right.  I don't say that mankind is not responsible, I say that the degree of severety needs to be understood.  All the pulpit pounding about global warming is really secondary to Global Responsibility.  I think that we're really not going to get a handle on it until we have taught all the Tribes that I alluded to in my last post to tolerate each other.  If people can justify murdering others over the burning of a book, I think we're quite a bit away from being responsible for something as ethereal as a breatheable atmosphere.  Still, every generation pearns and gets some more stuff right than the one before. 

[#15]

Although rafferty64 is right about his/her historical perspective, we also have more explicit information about the causes of global warming now and with that increased info comes increased responsibility as far as I'm concerned. I feel more hopeful about the possibility of reducing environmental damage given increasing awareness. There is also a growing link between environmental issues and economic ones. If we can share the ideas of sustainable development in a more widespread way, then governments all over the world will see the multiple advantages of such an approach. Then it's not an either-or but a both-and situation -- a better environment and more jobs.

[#16]

I haven't seen anyone's responses yet to the devastation from tornadoes all over the south. The loss of life and the devastation to people's homes and communities is overwhelming. Coming on the heels of the tragedies in Japan, this unrelenting series of disasters is horrifying. I hope people are sending financial support to the survivors!

[#17]

And now we have all the flooding to contend with. There are so many people suffering all over the country! Having seen what the flooding of a single room can do to furniture, books and rugs, I can't imagine people whose entire homes get flooded. The loss of sentimental items must be terrible to deal with. I feel so sorry for both the home-owners and the farmers whose lands are submerged.

[#18]

Just looking at this thread, I can't believe how many disasters have taken place and continue to ravage the country. The recent tornado in Missouri was unbelievable. Here's hoping for a lull.

[#19]

What bothers me is how when we suffer a new disaster, the old disasters seem to disappear from people's minds. Who's talking about Haiti now? Or Japan? Or New Orleans? Are we driven by the media?