Don't Listen to Whoopi - Flood Victims Need Financial Donations

Whoops! Comedian Whoopi Goldberg was only trying to help flood victims in the Midwest, but she may not have given the best advice yesterday on The View (DIS) when suggesting what viewers should consider donating.

• How You Can Help Midwest Flood Victims
• Floods Batter The Midwest – Here Is What You Need to Know About Flood Insurance
• Are You Prepared for a Natural Disaster?

While chatting with guest Michelle Obama and her co-stars, Whoopi told the audience:

"Perhaps, you can go through your closets, see what you have that you're not using, whether it's kids' clothes or iPods (AAPL) or hair dryers…whatever you have, and start to make a pile that you can take over because I suspect that the Red Cross, with the little bit of money that they have left because they're running very low, are not going to have the resources that they need."

Although relief organizations appreciate how she brought attention to the needs of flood victims, they also say: don’t listen to Whoopi!

"Cash donations are the best way to go," says Laura Howe, spokesperson for the Red Cross. "It allows us to be flexible in the help with give people." After a natural disaster like the Midwest floods, the Red Cross distributes debit cards with approximately $750 to $1000. Debit cards are ideal because they allow flood-ravaged communities to put money back into the local economy, she says, and it empowers victims to help their families.

Plus, donations of physical items like clothing need to be packed, shipped and then reviewed before distribution. "It’s very tough to take donations of canned goods and small items because they do have to be sorted and stored," Howe says. "It’s a lot easier for relief agencies to buy these things in bulk."

If you make a donation, make sure to specify that it’s for "disaster relief." You can even earmark where you’d like the charity to spend the money, say Pam Sweet, Salvation Army’s territorial disaster resource coordinator for the Midwest.

But, if you’d rather not give cash, the Red Cross says food and shelter are the most immediate needs of victims evacuated from their homes due to natural disasters. Sweet recommends donating a “boatload of water or Gatorade” or cleanup kits for people’s homes.

Cleanup kits are absolutely essential for flood victims, Sweet says, and the Salvation Army has already distributed over 10,000 since the flooding began on June 7. "After a flood, one of the dirtiest, hardest and most dangerous jobs is cleaning up… chemicals, fertilizer, soot, debris, mud, garbage, and dead animals are all common," says Barbara Lynch of FEMA.

Before damaged items inside can be replaced, a flooded home needs to be mopped up, and maybe even gutted. The mop, bleach, rubber gloves, and cloths in the kit cost $26.50, not including shipping and handling, and are purchased from either the Salvation Army’s trade department or through an outside company. Sweet sent over 2,500 cleanup kits over the past week to Waterloo, Iowa, 500 to Lawrenceville, Ill, and 1,000 to Peoria, Ill, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, among other locations.

The Red Cross also distributes cleanup kits and writes about who is getting help in which locations on their blog.

"We appreciate Whoopi immensely for being so thoughtful to care about disaster victims," says Howe from the Red Cross. But Whoopi shouldn’t feel bad about how to give. It’s “a misconception that a lot of people have." To give donations, you can visit RedCross.org, SalvationArmyUSA.org, or read MainStreet’s story on how to help Midwest flood victims here.