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The more local the better. A friend who used to work for the red cross shared this list of local orgs to consider instead of large organizations

http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/ways-can-help-people-hurricane-harvey/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Web+Social&utm_content=Harvey+Help

ETA: Personally, I usually donate to Catholic Relief Services or Catholic Charities for big crises.

@MaryM: thanks for posting this- I just donated to the diaper bank and will look for something else as well. I just can't imagine.

A friend recently recommended San Antonio Food Bank or San Antonio Red Cross. San Antonio has welcomed 1000 so far and can take 10,000 if needed.

I try to make sure i choose something as local as possible.

@MaryM: I agree with you. I will also encourage something very local.

@MaryM: Thanks so much for that link! It's great to know my donation will go somewhere local and help out immediately.

A fire station a couple towns away is sending a tractor trailer down and in my town someone's collecting stuff to bring to the collection point. So awesome of them and I'm putting together a bunch of stuff to send!

@snowjewelz: I've heard of people in my town collecting supplies to bring down too. But I keep thinking plain of cash would be more helpful than trucking loads of stuff across the country and then finding a way to distribute it to those who need it. (The guy I heard about is covering all his own gas and expenses for the trip). But maybe I'm wrong. I don't know.

@snowjewelz: I heard (here? Someplace on the internet) that diapers are especially needed because the main emergency supply trucks don't like to bring them since they take up so much room that could be used for food.

As someone who lost their home last year due to flooding we really didn't receive anything from national organizations. Instead organizations like our temple and Jewish federation were incredibly amazing. Also a lot of the help we received was directly from family, friends, and even my hb birth month moms!

I also wanted to share this link here. The Texas Diaper Bank is collecting diapers (baby & adult) and wipes. They have an Amazon wishlist and you can donate directly through Amazon.

https://smile.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2GACHT2Y0BS9B?_encoding=UTF8&filter=&ref_=cm_sw_r_fa&sort=default&type=wishlist&tag=hurricaneharveyrelief-082917-20

I'm in Houston - The Texas Monthly and NYTimes articles list great charities.

The greatest need is for money. Many local organizations have stopped collecting clothes for now because they have so many donations and it requires a lot of man power to sort through everything. If you are sending clothes, it's helpful to sort and label everything before donating (e.g. Women's clothes - medium, etc).

Here's an article that explains why monetary contributions are most helpful - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/when-disaster-relief-brings-anything-but-relief/

@Bluebonnet: Thanks so much. I do agree money in the right hands is the way to go for now. They can get water purification units, food and just a means to rebuild.

Cash to the major and local orgs. Or direct donations of needed items via their wishlists (like Texas diaper bank)
My friend works in disaster response. She says that people donating "stuff" like clothes, shoes and household items creates a secondary disaster. There is no infrastructure in place to manage all of the donations.