Catholic parishes to collect donations
All Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Wilmington conducted a special collection at all Masses Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 16-17, to aid victims of the devastating earthquake that shook the island nation of Haiti Tuesday, Jan. 12. The Most Rev. W. Francis Malooly, bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington, said the money will go to assist the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) response to the emergency.
CRS has made an initial commitment of $5 million for immediate use in the relief effort. The agency is geared up for mobilizing food and deploying emergency shelter and hygiene kits in Haiti, as well as bringing supplies in from the neighboring Dominican Republic. For those who missed the special collections, the church is asking for additional donations at crs.org.
Salvation Army accepts donations via text
The Richards Group has put together a public-service option for supporting the Salvation Army’s relief efforts. Cell phone users can text the word “HAITI” to 52000, and $10 will be donated directly to The Salvation Army World Service Office which has staff currently working in or en route to Port-au-Prince.
Postal mail donations can be made at The Salvation Army World Service Office, International Disaster Relief Fund, PO Box 630728, Baltimore, MD 21263-0728. Checks should have “Haiti earthquake relief” marked on the memo line.
Call 800-SAL-ARMY or visit salvationarmyeds.org.
Methodists seek donations for Haiti
United Methodists have had a long-standing relationship with Haiti through the Methodist Church of Haiti.
The strong ties between the Methodist Church of Haiti and the United Methodist Committee on Relief helped in facilitating the opening of the United Methodist Committee on Relief Haiti field office in 2005.
One hundred percent of advance gifts made will go to support relief and development efforts due to emergencies in Haiti. To make a donation directly online, visit new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor.
Donations can be mailed to Epworth UM Church at 19285 Holland Glade Road, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971; or Bethel UM Church, 129 W. Fourth St., Lewes, DE 19958. Reach Epworth at 227-7743 or Epworth-rehoboth.org. Reach Bethel at 645-9426 or bethellewes.org.
Red Cross accepts donations via text
MGive is making it easy for mobile phone users to make donations. Users can simply text the word “HAITI” to 90999 to give $10.
When prompted, users should reply with “YES” to confirm the one-time gift.
The $10 donation will appear on the next mobile bill, and 100 percent of the donation will go to Red Cross to help those hit by this natural disaster. Receipts can be printed at mGive.org/receipt.
The Red Cross is advising people who are trying to locate U.S. citizens living or traveling in Haiti to contact the U.S. Department of State, Office of Overseas Citizens Services, at 888-407-4747 or 202-647-5225.
The Red Cross is not currently accepting volunteers to travel to Haiti.
Send donations by post to American Red Cross, 100 West 10th St., Suite 501, Wilmington, DE 19801, and mark “Haiti earthquake relief” in the memo line. For more information, call 302-656-6620 or visit redcross.org.
IRS urges caution when donating money
With recovery efforts under way, many people may wish to contribute to relief funds for the victims of Haiti’s recent earthquake. Contributions for Haitian earthquake victims may be tax deductible.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) also wants to remind people to ensure their donations are made to reputable organizations and not fall victim to fraudulent scams.
Such fraudulent schemes may be perpetrated through the telephone, internet, email or in-person solicitations.
The IRS offers these tips for making charitable contributions:
Contributions to domestic, tax-exempt, charitable organizations that provide assistance to individuals in foreign lands qualify as tax-deductible contributions for federal income tax purposes, provided the U.S. organization has full control and discretion over the uses of such funds.
Contributions to foreign organizations generally are not deductible. Contributions to benefit specific individuals or families are also not deductible.
Contributions are deductible in the year made. To deduct any charitable donation of money, regardless of amount, a taxpayer must have a bank record or a written communication from the charity showing the name of the charity and the date and amount of the contribution. For individuals, only taxpayers who itemize their deductions on Form 1040 Schedule A can claim deductions for charitable contributions.
IRS Publication 526, Charitable Contributions, provides information on making contributions to charities. IRS Publication 3833, Disaster Relief: Providing Assistance through Charitable Organizations, explains how the public can use charitable organizations to help victims of disasters.
Donors should ensure their contributions go to qualified charities. Taxpayers who have a specific charity in mind can make sure it’s a qualified charity by doing a search on IRS.gov by inputting the term “Search for Charities” in the search feature. Some organizations, such as churches or governments, may be qualified even though they are not listed on IRS.gov.
For additional information on charitable giving, go to IRS.gov.
NAACP starts relief fund; text donations
The NAACP Delaware State Conference of Branches has established the NAACP for Haiti Relief Fund. NAACP members and supporters who would like to make a donation may do so at naacp.org or text “HAITI” to 62227.
Giant Food collects donations at stores
Giant Food of Landover, Md., and its sister supermarkets will donate $100,000 to the American Red Cross International Response Fund. Giant Food will collect donations in all stores and corporate offices for the victims of the Haiti earthquake, on behalf of the American Red Cross International Response Fund, through Sunday, Jan. 31.
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