the corner office

I was looking around last night for a way to donate something to the tsunami relief efforts. Amazon.com were perhaps the easiest way to do it, and 100% of the proceeds go to the American Red Cross. Really decent. Then, I thought that perhaps I should try donating through a local charity - sensible, no? Except that it seems nigh on impossible to do so. The South African Red Cross? Well, their site is utterly broken with good old ODBC errors, so you can't even see if they have anything to say about donating, let alone actually trying to give them money. No mention of charity drives at news sites like IOL, Mail & Guardian or News24. I'd heard that Discovery, Netcare (or Netcare911) and others had made arrangements to help flood victims, perhaps their sites had something to say? Nope, not even a mention of the disaster. Perhaps local online retailers are doing the same thing that Amazon.com are doing? Exclusive Books? Kalahari.net? Loot? Nope.

So, Amazon.com it was. And kudos to them.

Update: I posted too soon. Today, IOL has a list of charities, and News24 reports that ABSA has set up a relief fund with the Red Cross. Follow the links for details.