Now's the time

There's been a lot of things going on this weekend, but probably the most significant was the hurricane that hit the not-yet-recovered Gulf Coast. The good news is the damage isn't nearly of the proportion that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused in 2005. The infrastructure appeared sounder, the evacuations went more smoothly and the emergency response has been more appropriate.

What I'm saying is a lot of lives have yet again been disrupted and will continue to be disrupted because of the storm. If you don't already regularly donate time, money or things now is a good time as any to start.

A reminder: if you're donating money, not all charities are created equally. Some are more likely to spend your money on administrative costs than others. It's important to check out whatever charity you're interested in supporting with Charity Navigator, which evaluates the practices of 501c organizations. It's also a great place to start if you know you want to donate to a cause, but have no idea what organization to support.

My disaster relief recommendations are the American Red Cross and Feeding America (formerly known as America's Second Harvest). Both are efficiently run and help provide for basic needs immediately after disasters strike. The Red Cross allows you to earmark your donation to the area you want it to go, like disaster relief, your local chapter or armed forces services. Both have online donation forms, which allow your donation to be accessed immediately and sends you an e-mail receipt immediately.

I also recommend giving blood if you're able because blood supply is always low even when you don't consider the effects of disasters.

And, of course, these organizations and all others need support regardless of whether there's a pressing disaster. It might be easier to spend $20 on a new shirt rather than giving it away, but you never know when you might be on the receiving end of one of these organization's services.