How to Help

People want to help immediately, and that impulse is genuinely the best thing about a place like this. Some quick honesty about what helps and what does not:

Most helpful

• Money to established local organizations. It sounds cold next to a truckload of supplies, but cash lets relief groups buy exactly what is short, locally, keeping money in damaged businesses, with no sorting or storage cost
• Registering as a volunteer through an organized effort and waiting to be called
• Checking on your own neighbors — especially anyone elderly, alone, or medically fragile
• Donating blood, which is always short after a mass-casualty event

Please avoid, at least for now

• Driving into the damage area to look. Officials have been explicit: extra traffic is actively slowing emergency response. Menasha's police chief asked non-residents to stay out
• Self-deploying with a chainsaw. Well-meant, but untrained volunteers around downed conductors and unstable trees create casualties. Register with Crisis Cleanup instead
• Collecting used clothing. The unwanted-donation problem is real and consumes volunteer hours that should go to survivors

Before you give to any fundraiser, see the scam warnings in the Avoid Scams section. Fake charities appear within 48 hours of every disaster, and this one is now past that mark.

Organized teams get routed to households that requested help, arrive with the right equipment, carry insurance, and are supervised by people who know what a compromised tree or a live service drop looks like.

• Crisis Cleanup (844-965-1386) coordinates the relief organizations working the area — contact them about joining a team
• Local churches and service clubs are usually organizing crews within days; watch community Facebook groups
• 211 can connect you with volunteer needs as they are registered

If you do volunteer: bring heavy gloves, boots with puncture-resistant soles, eye protection, long sleeves, and your own water. Make sure your tetanus shot is current.

For those interested in volunteering, Volunteer Fox Cities is still assessing community needs and determining where volunteer support will be most helpful. In the meantime, sign up for the Tornado Volunteer Standby List — your name will be added to a list to be contacted once more specific opportunities are known.

When registering:

• Select yes when asked whether you want to be called upon in the event of a disaster
• Include any tasks, resources, or assistance you are able to offer
• Note any relevant skills, certifications, disaster training, or equipment you have — this helps match volunteers to needs as they are identified

Please be patient and wait for a specific call to action. Do not show up to affected areas unless instructed. Local emergency management is still determining where help is needed most.

After a disaster of this scale, the regional community foundation typically establishes a dedicated relief fund that distributes to vetted local organizations. These funds are the safest way to give money that stays in the affected communities, and they are audited.

Check the foundation's website for a Fox Cities tornado relief fund. If one has been announced and is not listed here yet, please submit it and we will add it.

A general rule: give to organizations that existed before July 27. A brand-new fundraiser created this week deserves real scrutiny.

Blood on the shelf is what treats injuries today — donations made now replenish supply for the coming weeks. Storms also cause blood drives to be canceled across a wide area, so shortages tend to follow disasters even where nobody was hurt.

• American Red Cross: 1-800-RED-CROSS or redcrossblood.org
• Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin operates donation centers across the Fox Valley

Schedule an appointment rather than walking in — centers are busy after a disaster.