Ho John Lee’s Weblog

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been looking at alternatives to the Red Cross for helping Katrina victims. There have been a disconcerting number of issues and bureaucratic problems with the Red Cross and other large relief organizations during the three+ weeks since Hurricane Katrina passed through New Orleans and the surrounding area.

While this is partially a problem of the sheer scale of the disaster, compounded by the absense of working physical and administrative infrastructure, it has also highlighted a gap between the “macro” relief services provided by the large organizations, and the “micro” relief services provided by individuals, local organizations, and ad hoc groups on the ground in the affected areas.

Macro: As of last Monday, the Red Cross has provided millions of overnight stays, hot meals, short term funds, and put thousands of trained volunteers on the ground. This is an amazing, enormous undertaking. They also have an astonishing fundraising and training network. The immediate crisis phase is passing by now, though, and unfortunately, the same organizational mass that makes quick response at this scale possible also leads to some of its own shortcomings.

To this point: Jacob Appelbaum, who I met last month at Barcamp, has been in New Orleans building wireless networks, VOIP phone service, low power FM, and documenting his experiences there in photographs and his weblog. A high-impact micro relief effort on his own, here’s his observation on the local view of the Red Cross:

The American Red Cross is probably the least respected of all the groups in this area. The locals actually stay away from the Red Cross because of their experience. If you’re considering giving money to the Red Cross, try giving it to a smaller group first. The Red Cross is a bloated company and your money could be best used elsewhere. They’re full of good people and they mean well I have no doubt. However they’re certainly an example of a non profit that has gotten too large.

Micro: A number of websites such as Reliefconnections.org, Hurricane Katrina Direct Relief, Katrina Data Project, Katrina Help Wiki provide mechanisms for matching small organizations and individuals looking to help or be helped. When these systems work, donation of time, money, or goods goes directly from donor to recipient where it’s needed / wanted, with effectively zero overhead. This is the disintermediation of large charity organizations. There are limitations to what can be done this way over the internet. First response isn’t one of them, so Red Cross, and organizations like it still get my support. But targeted follow-on help is an outstanding fit.

One of the problems with peer-to-peer charity and donation systems is that neither party knows each other, and there aren’t good mechanisms for establishing reputation. One approach is to work with someone you know or have heard of, which is why charity branding and marketing is important. Everyone has heard of the Red Cross, but probably haven’t heard of two guys running around setting up communications services for evacuees.

Koreans: This weekend at our church, we heard a report about some of the churches in Louisiana that are assisting and housing Hurricane Katrina victims. One of our church members, Alex Hull, travelled to the area last week and worked with a UMCOR team delivering supplies to churches in the region. This trip was primarily to assess the situation there to see how the local Korean community might best help. As a result, a group including local Korean churches, The Korean IT Network, Korean Dry Cleaners Association, The Korean Grocers Association, International Association of Youth, Korean American Chamber of Commerce of Silicon Valley, IPARK, Silicon Valley Athletic Association, and other non-profit organizations will be supporting relief efforts together. If you’re in the Bay Area, they’re accepting goods and donations at

Korean Americans in Silicon Valley for Katrina Relief Fund
10050 Bubb Road, Cupertino, CA 95014.

Checks can be made to “SVKCC - Katrina Fund”

The contacts at the specific churches that will be assisted are

c/o Pastor Choi Jung In
Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief For Korean at Baton rouge (KHDRK)
264 Burgin Avenue, Baton Rouge, LA 70808.
225-768-7700

c/o Ms. Mary John Johnson
Christ United Methodist Church
5301 Old Canton Road, Jackson, Miss 39211
601-956-0368

In general, now that the immediate crisis has passed, I’m going to be steering some personal donations toward specific, smaller groups, such as the Korean churches or Inveneo (VOIP) or CU-Wireless (internet access services).

I would also love to see the Red Cross delegate management of some of the incoming Katrina donations to other organizations that are less effective at fundraising but more effective or relevant to the needs of the community than what the Red Cross itself provides.

New York Times 9/20/2005:

The organization has garnered almost three-quarters of the $1 billion that Americans have donated to help the hurricane victims, with endorsements from President Bush, corporate America and many nonprofit organizations. Its duty, mandated by Congress, is to provide immediate assistance, a need that is rapidly diminishing as victims leave shelters.

Hopefully there won’t be such a large response needed whereever Hurricane Rita lands in a few days.

See also: Katrina Relief - Send Bits, Not Atoms, Katrina Flooding Would Cover Boston to Sudbury

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 22nd, 2005 at 8:01 am and is filed under General, Front Page. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Tags: katrina, disaster, neworleans, redcross, flood aid, Hurricane Katrina, korea