Why does the local Red Cross not know about these agencies?

AlterNet: Where to Donate Earlier this week, I called the Red Cross and volunteered to help on the phones. If their office is any indication of the level of incompetence at the national level, I pity the people left homeless and desperate by Hurricane Katrina. There are ways to help, many ways to help, other than the Red Cross, thank God, and I sincerely hope that the American people think twice about where and how their generosity is spent.