Public News Service-North Carolina Non-profits Brace For Intense Hurricane Season

Public News Service: "JACKSONVILLE, N.C. - North Carolina is more likely to see a severe hurricane this year, compared to years past, according to the National Weather Service. As the country remembers the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, non-profits like the Eastern Carolina Human Services Agency, Jacksonville, say they are better prepared now to handle such a disaster."

Pakistani community questions slow start to donation flow - Winnipeg Free Press

Pakistani community questions slow start to donation flow - Winnipeg Free Press: "Now — as Khan’s home country of Pakistan is in need of help as flood waters wreak havoc— the St. Vital man is left wondering why the public response to the disaster doesn’t seem to measure to the energetic effort that surrounded Haiti.

'For me, it’s really painful,' said Khan, who came to Canada in 1997 and runs Grocery Bazar on St. Mary’s Road. 'If there’s anywhere in the world that this is happening, everyone should come forward and help.'"

4 Reasons Americans Aren't Giving for Pakistan - International - The Atlantic

4 Reasons Americans Aren't Giving for Pakistan - International - The Atlantic: "The two most common answers are the poor economy and donor fatigue. While they are certainly playing a role, these two factors provide an incomplete picture. The economy was just as bad in January as it is now, with U6 joblessness unchanged and unemployment actually decreasing from 9.7 to 9.5 percent. The much-cited 'donor fatigue' claim argues that people are currently short on expendable cash or even human sympathy after the Haiti earthquake of seven months ago. However, if donor fatigue were really such a powerful force, then the world would not have responded with an overwhelmingly generous $5 billion in aid to the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, which occurred just over nine months after the 2004 tsunami. Clearly there is something more at play. Here are four factors more plausibly contributing to the low individual U.S. giving rate in response to the Pakistan floods."

TheSpec - Canada will match donations

TheSpec - Canada will match donations: "OTTAWA - The federal government moved yesterday to kick-start giving for Pakistan flood relief by offering to match private donations, dollar for dollar.
Donations for flood aid made between Aug. 2 and Sept. 12 will be matched by federal money with no upper limit, Government House leader John Baird said."

Australians have charity blind spot on Pakistan

Australians have charity blind spot on Pakistan: "AUSTRALIANS have a ''compassion blind spot'' when it comes to the Pakistan floods, says World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello.

World Vision has raised about $785,000 in the three weeks of the Pakistan disaster. At the same stage after the earthquake in Haiti in January, it had raised close to $10 million."

Alyssa Battistoni: Why is aid to Pakistan so slow? Because we're bad at giving.

Alyssa Battistoni: Why is aid to Pakistan so slow? Because we're bad at giving.: "We shouldn't count out these factors entirely. But the disconnect between the amount people donate to disasters and the extent of devastation is nothing new. For all their compassion and generosity, individual donors are unreliable, uninformed, often illogical, and have short attention spans to boot.

Rather than corresponding to the severity of the disaster, the amount of money donated to disaster relief tends to correspond highly to the amount of media coverage. And unfortunately, the amount of media coverage doesn't typically correspond to the severity of the disaster."