[Magical_Cooking]

Hello,

I am an American living in Hong Kong and am a volunteer for The Humane Society of the United States. I will be accepting financial contributions in Hong Kong and will be leaving donation boxes at different locations in Hong Kong. Please visit www.hsus.org to learn more about the devastating effects Hurricane Katrina has had on our animal friends. Thousands have been abandonded and hundreds are estimated to still be trapped in offices, homes and other buildings.

Hundreds of animals are being transported around the US to shelters waiting to be reunited with their owners or be placed in new and loving homes.

Monetary contributions will make a huge difference in the efforts to save and protect as many animals as possible.

I will also be accepting donations for the American Red Cross http://www.redcross.org and leaving donation boxes in different locations as well. Or, you can also make donations directly to each organization by visiting their website. There are tons of organizations that you can support, either one will be a contribution that WILL make a difference.

If you are interested in supporting either or both of these organizations, please kindly let me know immediately. Please also pass this information onto your friends. There is so much devastation and suffering going on with the victims, every act of contribution however large or small will make a difference in the life of another.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Diane

katrina_disaster_relief@hotmail.com

[KnowItAll]

Note: GeoExpat has NO mechanism of verifying the authenticity of this post.

We recommend people use well known and established channels for donating money.

http://www.amazon.com
http://www.redcross.org/

I would also recommend contacting the AWA (American Women's Association of Hong Kong a well known charity) if you wish to get involved.

info@awa.org.hk

Ordinarily this thread would have been deleted, but I'll leave it to the reader to make an appropriate choice.

[Baron]

I'm an animal lover, but considering there are thousands of human's out there in desperate need of food and shelter, i think i would rather contribute to them. Animals are next on the chain of life, sorry.

[kombuchakid]

I like the way KIA puts amazon before red cross- a case of being both gender and alphabetically correct.

Look what came in through the email slot this morning.

+++

The Red Cross Racket
From Ken Adachi
Editor@educate-yourself.org
9-4-5

The American Red Cross or the International Red Cross, like the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the World Bank, is an
Illuminati-controlled front organization whose true purpose is completely
opposite from their stated purpose.

The IMF tells the world that they are there to "help" counties recover from
economic difficulties (which the IMF and World Bank helped to create in the
first place), but in reality, the IMF breaks counties and ruins their
economies. The same could be said of the Red Cross.

The moment a 'natural' disaster like Hurricane Katrina roars through the
southeast, radio and TV spots flood the airwaves seeking monetary donations
to be sent to the Red Cross. With heartstring music playing in the
background, the radio announcer tells us that the Red Cross is "always there
in time of need" and now that the "poor victims of Hurricane Katrina are
suffering" with this terrible tragedy, "won't you open your heart" and make
a "generous" donation?

Oh Brother, these guys have the science of bilking people down to a fine
art!

I can't take the time to get into a long essay about the Dark Side of the
Red Cross, but just try to recall what happened after 9-11:

The dust from the World Trade Center collapses hadn't even settled before
the call went out immediately from the Red Cross to give blood and money to
help the victims and the families of the 'terrorist' attack. Thousands of
people gave blood and even more gave millions upon millions of dollars to
the Red Cross. The first question that occurred to me when the Red Cross
started asking for blood was: "Blood for whom?". Everyone was dead! We knew
everyone was dead from the very beginning, so why is the Red Cross asking
for blood donations day and night for about a week or more?

The answer is reflective of the true purpose of the Red Cross: the Red Cross
is a disaster racket which is in the business of making money from
disasters-especially from engineered disasters. They sell the blood, of
course, but they apparently also use the blood for other things which the
public is generally not privy to.

And what do they do with the money? For the most part, they keep it for
themselves! Recall how the families of the victims of 911 had to badger,
harass, and threaten the Red Cross in an attempt to get some 11 million
dollars that they would not release to the families-even a year later? And
that's what we were told in the media, but how much money did the Red Cross
really rake in from 9-11?

The CEO of the Red Cross and other corporate celebrities receive obscene
salaries and other big buck perks, while other charities operate on much
leaner budgets for use by the charity itself. As I type this short article,
I now check my e-mail and find 4 or 5 articles devoted to precisely the same
topic, so in order to save time, I'll let others finish the story for me:

[Magical_Cooking]

Thank you for all the comments. I completely understand KIA about your questioning the integrity of my post as there are so many scams out there.

In response to Baron, there are hundreds of organizations that are helping the human victims of Katrina offering food, water, medical attention, shelter, etc. Animals are left to fend for themselves, so whilte there is abundance of help for humans, without support as well, animals left unattended and ignored will die of starvation and horrible lonely deaths. It is your choice where you extend your compassion and empathy to help another. Choosing to help animals doesn't mean you are ignoring the needs of people

KIA, I'll leave it to your disgretion if you'd like to leave this post up or not. It is my hope that you will leave it up. I'll respect whatever decision you choose. Many of you have seen my email and can contact me if you'd like further information on how you can help.

Respectfully,

Diane

[KnowItAll]

Diane : There are some legal issues behind collecting donations. All I can say is, while your heart and soul are in the right place... be careful.

My warning is simply that ... with every disaster you're going to find opportunists come up with several scams. I'm NOT passing any judgements here.

KK: I prefer Amazon for donations.. they've gotten the collection down to an art form and most people I know in Hong Kong have an Amazon account.

[Magical_Cooking]

Thanks for your advice KIA and your care. I have done this in the past and I have also worked in the fundraising field and agree one needs to be careful of legalities. I will seek legal advice from friends in Hong Kong to ensure I don't step over legal boundaries. I appreciate your concern.

I have received numerous emails of people who want to help and I'll make sure everything is properly looked into before I accept any monetary donations. I have spoken to HSUS and they are grateful for any support. I can give out that information to whoever would like it to ensure this is legitimate.

Thanks again,

Diane