BBB offers tips to safely donate after disasters

Many are looking to donate after communities across Hurricane Helene’s path have been devastated leaving people with nothing. People have been left without running water, power and roads closed.

The desire to help has led to scammers taking to social media creating fake charities or posing as charities or individuals affected by the hurricane looking to take people’s money. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) explained these scams in more depth:

“After a disaster, scammers often set up fake donation websites, social media campaigns, and crowdfunding pages that appear to support relief efforts. These fraudulent campaigns use emotional appeals to urge people to donate immediately. Scammers may even impersonate well-known charities or pose as individuals seeking help through crowdfunding platforms.”

Carl Bates, president and CEO of BBB said, “Avoid these unsolicited requests that you see on social media or email. A lot of times people initiate fake charities during these times of disaster and they set up these GoFundMe accounts, crowd fund accounts… all sorts of things.”

For anyone looking to help but unsure of how to avoid these scams, the BBB gave us the following list of “Tips for Safe Giving”:

Verify the Charity – Always check out a charity before donating. Use trusted sites like BBB Wise Giving Alliance (Give.org), Charity Navigator (charitynavigator.org), or FEMA’s Volunteer and Donate page (fema.gov).
Donate Directly – Avoid unsolicited donation requests on social media or email. Visit the charity’s official website to make your contribution.
Use Credit Cards – Credit cards offer added protection against fraud. Avoid sending cash or using payment apps like Venmo or CashApp for donations.

The BBB also provided the following list of vetted organizations to safely donate money:

National Organizations:

American Red Cross – Provides disaster relief and emergency assistance across the country. Visit www.redcross.org to donate.
Salvation Army – Supports those affected by disasters. Visit www.give.helpsalvationarmy.org.
United Way – Helps communities with disaster relief. Visit www.support.unitedway.org.
GoFundMe – A BBB Accredited Business that monitors fundraisers for individuals and organizations during disasters. Visit www.gofundme.org.
America Cares – Delivers medical and disaster relief to people in need. Visit www.americares.org.
Samaritan’s Purse – Provides spiritual and physical aid to victims of disaster. Visit www.samaritanspurse.org.

State-Specific Organizations:

Generally, Bates says local police, fire or government drives are safe. Especially if they are not asking for money.

We spoke with one drive in Blount county taking donations in the form of goods, not accepting money, and will be delivering them to Swain County NC where they are in touch with a contact that has provided them a list of needed goods.

Scott Payne , Mayor of Allgood said, “We’ve had people from out of state that have called us and asked us if we could have deliveries here. We’ve had Amazon deliveries, Walmart deliveries, Kroger deliveries. They just order it and have it shipped here.”

The drive is put on by the Oneonta and Allgood fire departments. Donations can be dropped off at or sent to the Allgood Town Hall or Oneonta fire department between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. every day through Friday.

Items Needed: