Disaster Assistance Fund

[Sapper]

Howdy All,

In the Puerto Rico thread I asked if anyone had set up a fund to assist the Hyatt employees impacted by the hurricanes. WalnutBaron asked if I would be willing to do it. So, here goes.

What this is, and is not. My intent of this fund is to help the employees who have been impacted by the recent disasters. It is not to help Hyatt (or ILG) rebuild anything. This is solely intended to help the folks who have been there to help us have a wonderful time while on vacation.

I have never done anything like this, so would greatly appreciate any help or suggestions from anyone who knows how to do it.

I am thinking the best way to go about this is to create a seperate bank account (or maybe a PayPal account), have folks contribute to it, contact the properties impacted to find out who could use some help, and then distribute funds from the seperate account. Due to the limited scope of this, I'm not sure setting up a seperate legal entity (ie, 501c3) would be the best way to go. However, having never done anything like this before, I really would appreciate input.

Thank you,
Tim

 

[WalnutBaron]

I'm in, Tim. Since no funds will be used for fundraising or marketing--this is simply a way of collecting money and then sending it back out in its entirety. No need for a 501c3 or anything so elaborate.

For folks who wish to contribute, please understand that you will not be able to declare this as a donation on your tax return. Think of it as "passing the hat" in order to help those who are suffering. Tim, once the account is set up and you have instructions on where to send a check, I will be privileged to give.

 

[WalnutBaron]

For those who may not be aware of the depth of the devastation on Puerto Rico, this CNN report gives a pretty good look. These people need help desperately.

 

[Sapper]

WalnutBaron, very happy to have your help! Yes, more pass the hat, not official charity. No funds used for administration, collection, distribution, etc. I do want this to be as transparent as possible so people who contribute see where their funds are going, and how they are helping folks out.

I am going to look at using PayPal for the bank account. I think there is a way to do a charity thing on there where they do not take the 3%, and then funds can more easily be distributed to individuals accounts. This, of course, assumes the recipient HAS a PayPal account, has access to email, etc. This might be too much to hope for folks in PR. I spoke with a coworker who is from there. She said there are a lot of family and friends no one has heard from. No communication, the roads to get to them are gone, and no gasoline to drive.