Puerto Rico, you lovely island . . .
Island of tropical breezes.
Always the pineapples growing,
Always the coffee blossoms blowing...
 - West Side Story (Stephen Sondheim, lyrics)

The lyrics come from the song "America" in West Side Story where the "Sharks" (the Puerto Rican gang in this re-imagining of Romeo and Juliet) debate the relative merits of Puerto Rico and America. Both locations are seen with fondness, as well as a sharp-eyed reality about their challenges.

Today, Puerto Rico faces perhaps its greatest challenge.  The island is facing a humanitarian disaster of unprecedented scale, and one local official has said the island's development has been set back "20 or 30 years."

We must not forget these American citizens. 

What can you do to help?

• First and foremost - contact your members of Congress and tell them to send aid.  There is a great script and link to find your delegation here.  I would recommend that you amend the script that they give here to add in that Congress should not only put pressure on for more aid now (and authorize the expenditures), but also begin planning and allocating funds NOW for the long-term recovery.*

• Consider donations - although here more than ever, I would look for options that will e there for the long-term. This is going to be a marathon on the rebuild front.
• Save the Children is responding
• The Center for Disaster Philanthropy's 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Fund will take the long-term view
• The Hispanic Federation's Unidos fund is focused on immediate needs.  In addition, the Federation is supporting Mexican earthquake efforts.
• United for Puerto Rico is the fund started by the First Lady of Puerto Rico, and the fund backed by the fund-raising efforts of the former US Presidents
• Keep your eye on the Heart of Florida United Way based in Orlando.  Orlando is home to the largest concentration of Puerto Ricans in Florida, and I was speaking to a key nonprofit leader there today about the expected influx of Puerto Ricans to that area. Services will be needed both on the island of PR and for those who will relocate after this disaster.  HFUW will be providing many of those services.

But, please start by calling your members of Congress.

*Good explanation of the Jones Act that is referenced in the script here

It's Not Just the Hurricanes....

While there is no question that there are near-overwhelming needs emerging in Florida and the Caribbean as the damage from Irma slowly becomes clear, it's important to remember that there are multiple disasters throughout the world that are impacting large numbers of people and can use our aid.  I'm going to talk about a couple of them, and also add some new links related to Harvey and/or Irma.  Please feel free to add good resources for any of these humanitarian crises in the comments.

Famine (and Cholera) in Yemen
The current level of hunger in Yemen is unprecedented and causing severe hardship for millions of people. Now, 17 million people in the country are food insecure, meaning they do not have enough food. Of these, 6.8 million - that is almost one in four people - are severely food insecure and rely entirely on external assistance. The rate of child malnutrition is one of the highest in the world.

The nutrition situation continues to deteriorate. A recent survey showed that almost one third of families have gaps in their diets, and hardly ever consume foods like pulses, vegetables, fruit, dairy products or meat. More than 3 million pregnant and nursing women and children under 5 need support to prevent or cure malnutrition.

Who is responding:

• World Food Programme - UN affiliated and global in its reach. It is working in 17 governorates (near as I can figure, equivalent of a state) and is trying to scale to country-wide.
• Oxfam International - Since July 2015 Oxfam has reached more than one million people in eight governorates of Yemen with water and sanitation services, cash assistance, and food vouchers. In response to a 2017 outbreak of cholera, Oxfam is delivering water, sanitation, and hygiene to help prevent the spread of the disease.
• Mercy Corps - links to a very good discussion of how famines develop, and what factors exacerbate and contribute to famine.
• Doctors without Borders (MSF)- I remain a big fan of MSF.

Rohingya Refugee Crisis
Rohingyans are a Muslim minority within Myanmar (Burma) that are systematically persecuted by the Buddhist majority.  They are denied citizenship within Myanmar, and access to education, jobs, etc.  See this article for detailed background. In recent years, there has been a mass migration/fleeing by the Rohingyans, but few countries will accept them, and many are now in refugee camps under dire conditions.

Who is responding

• Islamic Relief USA
• UNICEF
• Doctors without Borders (MSF)

Irma/Harvey updates

• The Miami Foundation has compiled a great set of links to local relief funds for Irma response and recovery.
• UNICEF is responding to Antigua and Barbuda, arguably two of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Irma
• United Methodist Committee on Relief is responding to both Hurricane Harvey and Irma.
• Mennonite Disaster Service is gearing up for long-term recovery work after Harvey and Irma.  See this article for a good description of how they work
• The Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands has set up a fund for recovery and rebuilding.
• Good article from ColorLines about ways to help people of color after Irma.

Welcome to the Cranky Philanthropist Blog.

This will be a place I aggregate information about ways to support communities, peoples, and causes, both in response to disasters, and as other issues and resources come to my attention.  This is all my personal opinion and in no way connected to my professional gig.

This first post is written in the context of the twin hurricane disasters in the U.S. There are other disasters around the world, and subsequent posts will talk about some of those.

Thinking about giving in times of disaster
One of the things to keep in mind is that while there is a very real human impulse to give at the moment a disaster strikes, where money is really most needed is during the long-term recovery process.  If you can give both during and after a disaster, that is great.  If you can only give once, you might want to think about holding off and seeing where money is most needed during the rebuild phase.

Also - don't send clothes, toys, food, etc. unless a specific, credible aid agency has specifically requested them. Seriously. Disaster sites are often overwhelmed with clothes, shoes, toys that are used, dirty and just not needed.

Cash is what is most needed.

Places to consider giving in response to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma - US 2017

• Save the Children - I have been consistently impressed with their work in disasters. They take a long-term view to their work; both responding immediately, helping to set up child-safe and appropriate spaces for children in shelters, and then doing long-term recovery work with child centers and early education centers, helping them with restarting operations, as well as providing trauma-informed curricula and supports to help children deal with the effects of having been in a disaster.
• Southern Baptist Disaster Relief - Particularly for these southern-US disasters, SBDR has prepositioned crews and supplies that will be effective in immediate recovery and response, and also provide some longer-term clean up. 
• The Hurricane Relief Fund at The Greater Houston Community Foundation - They are holding the long-term recovery fund for the Greater Houston area.  Community Foundations generally have good track records of getting community voices engaged in the decisions around this kind of funding, and being accountable to donors.
• The Harvey and Irma funds at The Center for Disaster Philanthropy - CDP is stewarding funds that will focus on long-term recovery from both storms.  The Irma fund is of particular note as it will address the entire area impacted by Irma, including non-US sites.
• Oxfam - I like Oxfam's approach because they work through local partners and build capacity locally.
• Partners in Health - responding both in Haiti and in Mexico after the earthquake.
• Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services - working to deal with the environmental mess left by Harvey

Other great resources:

• How to Donate Money and Other Aid to Communities of Color in Houston - Colorlines' list of charities and organizations working to keep immigrant, Black, Latinx and other populations safe after Hurricane Harvey
• Ways to get money to marginalized communities - Very thoughtful discussion of how marginalized communities are not always well served by mainstream NGOs.
• SBP - great resources for homeowners about preparing for and dealing with clean-up, insurance, FEMA, etc. after a disaster.  SBP also does direct service, and you can donate to help their work throughout the US.