Japan Earthquake

An Excellent Article "Japan earthquake: How you can help"

By Jessica Dickler, staff writerMarch 12, 2011: 9:29 AM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- After the fifth largest earthquake in history struck Japan, many Americans have been eager to help -- but donations can be tricky, particularly in the earliest phase of the recovery effort.

Despite the massive destruction seen in Tokyo and the surrounding area, "at this stage it's very difficult to say the extent of the need," said Andrea Koppel, a spokeswoman from the American Red Cross.

Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, advises those ready to make donations to "wait and see how the situation develops and step forward when clear charitable needs arise."

An immediate response is not necessarily best, he says. "It's ok to get assessments on the situation and then send contributions."

Impact Your World - CNN
For those who intend to help victims of Friday's 8.9-magnitude quake, experts advise following these guidelines in the days ahead:

Who to give to
Patrick Rooney, executive director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, recommends giving to reputable aid organizations, like the Red Cross and Save the Children, because those organizations already have a presence in the impacted area and their response will likely be faster and more efficient than other organizations that are not on the ground.

"They have the experience and infrastructure necessary to provide help," he said.

The Japanese Red Cross has already deployed 900 rescue workers to the affected region today and the American Red Cross has emergency responders on standby, Koppel added.

What to give
"Give money, not food, water and clothes," Rooney advised. "There's a much higher shipping cost for supplies and it's easier for disaster organizations to get cash and use it as they need to."

In addition, it can be difficult to determine what supplies will be most needed, particularly in the early stages of a recovery effort, and in the case of Japan, there are many supplies already on hand.

Currently, a Red Cross warehouse in Malaysia is fully stocked with enough relief supplies to aid 5,000 families, according to Koppel.

What to avoid
Unfortunately, an influx of websites that are not legitimate often crop up in the wake of natural disasters, soliciting for charitable donations to aid victims.

"I guarantee websites pop up in the next 24 hours that are likely to be fraudulent," Rooney said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation advises donors not to respond to any unsolicited incoming emails, but rather go directly to recognized charities and aid organization's websites, as opposed to following a link to another site.

Before donating, also verify the legitimacy of the nonprofit organizations as well as its nonprofit status.

And be leery of emails claiming to show pictures of the disaster areas in attached files, because those files can contain viruses, the FBI cautioned.

Charity solicitations that seem suspicious can be reported to the National Center for Disaster Fraud; complaints can also be filed with the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Plastics Jobs Recruiter

Dan Regovich - Plastics Recruiter & Plastic Packaging Recruiter
AJ Augur Group, LLC
440-357-7600
www.ajaugur.com
dregovich@ajaugur.com




Formerly with RSI Recruiter Solutions International, VP Plastics & Filtration
Within the plastics industry, we service comanies with the following technologies: injection molding, blow molding, extrusion blow molding, injection blow molding, multilayer blow molding, thermoforming, cast extrusion, profile extrusion, extruded film, blown film, plastic film, rotational molding/rotomolding, plastic sheet, calendaring, casting, compression/transfer molding, foam molding, pultrusion, resin, color and compounding,

The primary end markets that these products go into: aerospace, agriculture, apparel/garment bagsappliances, automotive/transportation, beverage, building/construction, computers, consumer products, containers/closures, fencing, fiber optics, flooring, food service, grocery bags, electical/electronics, food pacakaging, household chemicals, household-care packaging, industrial, irrigation, labels, laminations, lawn & garden, marine, medical/pharmaceutical, municipal water & sewer, office products, personal-care packaging, plastic cups/lids, recreational, signage & displays, shrink film, stretch film, swimming pools/spas, tanks agricultural/industrial, telecommunications, toys, trash bags, vinyl siding, windows & doors, wire & cable

Types of Materials: ABS, Acetal, Acrylic, Fluoropolymers, HDPE, HMWHDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, Nylon, PC, PET, PETG, PEX, PLA, Post-Consumer Resin, PP, PPO/PPE, PS/EPS, PVC, PVDC, SAN/SMA, Thermosets, TPE