: It does seem selfish to be thinking of building a kayak, and I feel a bit of
: a dork posting about buying fiberglass cheaply when I know there are
: people in a world of hurt on the other side of the globe. I feel for those
: people, and I pray for them. I'd like to put some action with it by
: donating to the relief funds, but exactly the reason you state above is
: what holds me back--I want to make sure that any money I am able to give
: will go directly to helping someone and not into somebody's pocket. Even
: so, no amount of money I or anyone else can give combined will ease
: anyone's grief over lost loved ones. It sucks bad when things like this
: happen, but it's a big wake up call. We're all mortal and none are
: promised tomorrow. We don't have things near in control as we think
: sometimes.

: Thanks to you and Nick for the posts about relief efforts. From World
: Vision's site, it seems a good place to put a donation.
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most of the reputable organizations (such as those listed by Nick) use the vast amount of their funds (MSF for example is more than 85%) for actual field work versus fund raising and administration. So if you stay with a "brand name" you can't go wrong. The important thing is to give....