The Washington Post today reports (“Charities Report Record Donations,” by Alan Cooperman and Jacqueline Salmon) that Americans so far have donated $337 million for emergency relief for victims of the Asian earthquake and tsunami, “in what some are calling the greatest outpouring of donations for a foreign disaster in American history.” According to the Post, “The rapidly mounting private contributions could soon dwarf the $350 million in aid committed by the U.S. government, fundraisers said.”

The article raises interesting questions and concerns about fundraising efforts and the distribution of relief aid, and notes the efficiency and donations made via the intenet.

And it raises a question for Rittenhouse readers in the poll posted in the sidebar at right: “Have you made a donation to a non-government relief agency to assist victims of the Asian earthquake and tsunami?”

The poll will remain at this site for one week.

[Post-publication addendum: Earlier today I added several alternative means of donating funds for tk to the sidebar at right, doing so with an eye toward ecumenism and an appreciation for secular aid organizations. The list includes: American Friends Service Committee, American Jewish World Service, B’nai B’rith Disaster Relief Fund, Care International, Catholic Relief Services, Episcopal Relief and Development, The First Church of Christ Scientist Tsunami Relief Fund, Food for the Hungry, Habitat for Humanity International Asia Tsunami Response Fund, International Federation of Red Crescent and Red Cross Societies, International Rescue Committee, Jesuit Refugee Service, Lutheran World Relief, Oxfam America, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, and U.S. Fund for UNICEF. I also posted a link to American Atheists, but that group appears not to be collecting funds, nor has it posted any response to this tragedy whatsoever. Regardless, still more organizations working on this disaster can be found here.]

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