Brazil - How to help Brazil flood victims

Just a couple days ago Gaucho100K asked for ideas, and he has subsequently begun organizing Argentina FlyerTalkers for support.

The single charity that has been most active and helpful in the present crisis is the Red Cross of Brazil. Only a few minutes ago two of their volunteers died in a helicopter crash trying to help victims.

Therefore I suggest that you contribute to your local Red Cross noting the contribution is for Rio de Janeiro mudslide relief.

The US site is: http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main&s_src=RSG000000000&s_subsrc=RCO_Donate_OnlineGiving

The Argentine site is: http://www.cruzroja.org.ar/v-lopez/

The Brazil information in in another thread in Portuguese.

The needs are immense and conditions are not improving. The formerly thriving city of Nova Friburgo no longer has a downtown. It was wiped out. There are almost 2000 orphans and many thousands of homeless people now.

Please help in any way you can.

Red Cross is a good option. I believe you can specify to what area your donation goes, though I did not see that on the donation page. Other possibilities for online donations are Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF (Emergency Relief Fund), and World Vision.

Friends of my wife who live in Rio but also have a home in Novo Friburgo say that the city's center has been wiped out. No more cathedral. The cemetery where his parents were buried is gone. The housekeeper who worked in their NF home had gone to another home the day of the worst floods and hasn't been seen since. One newspaper reports says the death total is now 799.

My reason for selecting Red Cross is that they were asked by the city of Nova Friburgo to assume leadership there and they have done a magnificent job. The others are good too but so far at least Cruz Vermelha seems to be far more involved in this than most of the others are although they also are coming.

Several of our friends are now homeless, including people in Nova Friburgo (Mury) and Itaipava. The reconstruction process and rebuilding the economy, especially the agricultural sector will be very difficult.

Thanks for the information, jbcarioca. Im still not able to know if we will be hosting the charity event or not, interest till now has not been too strong... but I will keep you posted.

Just to let you know, we're helping out in our corner of the Pacific NW as well.

"Friday February 11, 2011, 7:00 - 11:00 p.m.

Where?: Music Works Northwest, 14360 SE Eastgate Way, Suite 102 in Bellevue, WA

Help Rio Benefit concert will feature performances by Eduardo Mendonça, Show Brazil, Jovino Santos Neto, ZumZumZum, ICAF – International Capoeira Angola, Dora Oliveira, and other local artists to raise funds to aid victims of flooding and mudslides in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil."

http://brazilcenter.org/donate.htm

That is wonderful news. The outpouring of support around the world and in Brazil too has been very important to the affected people. There has been a problem with mundane items like toothbrushes, toothpaste, clean water, sanitary napkins and underwear. People around the world have helped alleviate what could have been even worse problems. We all appreciate the help.