Newtown, Conn., was so inundated with teddy bears and other donations after last month’s school shootings that it asked people to please stop sending gifts. Relief groups in New York and New Jersey are still trying to figure out what to do with piles of clothes and other items sent there after Superstorm Sandy.
It happens in every disaster: People want to help, but they often donate things that turn out to be more of a burden. Disaster aid groups are trying to figure out a better way to channel these good intentions.
Juanita Rilling remembers it happening in 1988 when she was a disaster specialist trying to get help to hurricane victims in Honduras. “And one morning I received a call from one of our logistic operators, and he explained to me that they had a cargo plane loaded with medical supplies that needed to land,” says Rilling.
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