Helping Out in Chile

There has been a lot of discussion of how to help here in Chile.  The government seems to have been extremely slow in bringing help to Concepcion, so riots have broken out, all sorts of stores have been broken into, people had trouble finding food and water.  One guy who worked at a tuna canning store had people filing in to take tuna, saying that they had been given permission.  He had no choice but to allow them, though he doubted the claim.

Most disappointing is that people were told in various coastal regions that there WOULDNT be a tsunami.  Then the alarm was given extremely last  minute. 

Because the roads are blocked to Concepcion, it is difficult for people to find ways to go help.  However there has also been warnings made about causing more harm than good--people who end up taxing the resources of the rescue workers rather than actually bringing any expertise.  In Santiago, there have been a lot of people trying to find ways to help--and every other block has begun collecting supplies for the south. 

If you would like to help from the states, here are some places to donate and learn more:

http://www.interaction.org/crisis-list/interaction-members-respond-earthquake-chile --This is your best resource.  It has a list of the different international organizations with on-site assistance.

http://ayudemoschile.wordpress.com/--information and volunteer coordination from within Chile.  They accept donations here as well, but I can't say anything about the security of the site.

I'll update more as I come across them.