Cash donations best way to help, Red Cross tells New Zealand

People wanting to help in disaster relief have been urged to give money, rather than goods.

The Red Cross said all the money it received for an international disaster reached the victims.

But when goods such as clothes were given, the cost of transport was often more than the value of the donated goods.

Transporting goods also caused logistical headaches and delayed delivery to those who needed help.

The Red Cross said monetary donations enabled it to buy the right goods in the country where the disaster had happened.

This benefited the local economy, and meant the Red Cross could take local taste and culture into account.

Money could also be transferred instantly virtually anywhere in the world.

The Red Cross said New Zealanders were particularly generous, and New Zealand was ranked 13th of the 186 national societies around the world.

The Red Cross starts its annual week-long national appeal next week.

It says that as well as helping in overseas relief, it also has domestic programmes.

This month, 26 New Zealand schools were involved in the Red Cross breakfast programme which gave breakfast to 500 school children a day.

The programme was run in conjunction with the Countdown supermarket chain, which gave the food.

The programme started last year after children were found to be going to school hungry.

The Red Cross said that a healthy breakfast settled children down in their classrooms and produced better concentration.

The New Zealand Red Cross has 26 aid workers in 15 countries.

- NZPA