Here Are Some Ways to Help Victims of the Orlando Tragedy

In the wake of a tragedy, especially one of the magnitude of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, there's fear, sadness, pain, and, for many, the urge to do something good.

Fortunately, that spirit of goodness triumphing over hate and anger and violence has manifested itself in many opportunities for you to get involved and help not only the victims of the tragedy and their families, but hopefully help prevent such tragedies in the future.

An organization that's been involved with getting funds and help where it's needed most, the Orlando Health Foundation, can be found here.

One of the first things that I saw pop up were campaigns to help raise funds for those who were directly affected and their families. This is a GoFundMe campaign that is aiming to do just that; it's raised an incredible amount of money, but it could still go further. If you have any questions about its legitimacy, here's a comment from the page itself:

I see a lot of comments questioning the legitimacy of this campaign. There is nothing wrong with being careful before donating your money, but this is an easy one to confirm. Rather than leave a negative comment that may discourage others from donating, please just do a little research to allay your suspicions. Ida Vishkaee Eskamani, the creator of this campaign, is a development officer for Equality Florida. You can see her on their staff page here. http://www.eqfl.org/staff Equality Florida is the largest LGBTQ civil rights organization in Florida. You can see their Guidestar report here https://www.guidestar.org/profile/59-3435235 Guidestar is a reputable database of non profits. This page is linked to from Equality Florida's official website and their Facebook page. So please, if you want to donate then donate, if you don't then don't, but don't use suspicion as an excuse because here are the facts.

But one thing not to underestimate is the need for blood in these situations. Blood donated after the fact is undoubtedly life-saving and important, but the first line of blood they use is, naturally, the blood that had been donated prior to the emergency situation. Donating blood regularly is important and can save lives at all times, but it definitely helps to have more on-hand in the event that something this devastating occurs.

If you'd like to donate blood, the website for the New York Blood Center is here and the website for the American Red Cross is here.

Beyond that, if you want to help situations like this, just get involved in some way. Whatever cause you support, whatever charity you admire, whatever is important to you, get involved and share it. The only way to fight anger and hatred and violence is to provide an alternative. The more good you do, the more good there is in the world.