DO NOT SEND CANS OF FOOD!!

Today President Clinton asked people to donate money.
Sending goods is creating bottle necks.
He said the money will help much more than sending items.

It’s a matter of bulk and logistics.
Let’s assume you go through your cabinets and come up with some cans of creamed corn, green beans, etc. totaling a retail cost of $10.
That same $10 sent to a pool can be used to buy food at wholesale that is ready for transport for at least 50 cents on the dollar. Twice the food same price.
But there is more.
Where you drop off the cans, a staff member or volunteer has to get the goods to go on a truck, that truck goes to a distribution center that has to repackage the goods into type then those packages have to be brought to a deployment area and put on planes that are trying to land on the limited runways (just one?) in Haiti.
All of that took paid people and or volunteers’ time and effort.
However $10 donations pooled together in substantial amounts can buy pallets of baby formula and water that are ready for transport from huge warehouses.
And there are people who have worked on disasters before and know that the combination of baby formula and water will keep more children alive than 3 cans of green beans, and 4 cans of chef-boy-are-de.
I know bringing canned goods and blankets makes you feel better but money will keep more people alive.