UP CLOSE: Southeast Missouri Better Business Bureau offers advice on charitable donations

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – When life-changing situations such as hurricanes happen, sadly, some look to take advantage of others.  

Scammers are everywhere, always looking for the right opportunity to pounce.

Better Business Bureau Regional Director Whitney Quick says people need to be careful about which charities to which they donate.

“So, with the rise in hurricanes that we’re seeing right now … so we just saw Fiona in Puerto Rico and we are seeing a hurricane that should be coming up on Canada soon. It is hurricane season, so typically what we see around this time of year are charity scam(s) so we really need to talk about where to donate that money if you are looking to donate funds to hurricane survivors and to build back after the hurricane,” said Quick.  

Quick’s advice on how to find the right charity to donate to is to do your research and give to people (and organizations) you know.  

“So, you really want to do your research on this because a lot of times what we see during these times and especially, you know, anytime that there is a natural disaster we see a rise in fake charities, so you want to make sure that you’re doing your research. You can go to BBB.org, (or) give.org, which is our charity website where you can check out any charity that you are thinking about donating to [and] make sure that it is a reputable charity, that it meets our 20 standards of charity. All that information is available on our website,” said Quick.