Here's How To Help Charities Help People Impacted By Coronavirus

The number of new U.S. jobless claims skyrocketed to 3.3 million Americans, elevating the economic duress the new coronavirus pandemic. As the outbreak continues to take and threaten jobs, paychecks and the livelihood of small business owners, it's fueled an urge by many people to step up — to do something and help our neighbors in large and small ways.

No surprise: The current need is great, Rachel Croson, dean of Michigan State University's College of Social Sciences, told Patch.

"If you're considering a donation, first of all, thank you. The situation is very fluid, thus knowing when, how much and to whom to give can be challenging," Croson said. "Generally you want to stick with charitable organizations that are well-established and well-known. In times of crisis, scams abound, and it's easy to give funds to an organization that sounds good but is actually just a shell."

Using CharityNavigator.org and Forbes’ 2019 Top Charities list to identify a selection of the nation’s most far-reaching and prolific charities, Patch compiled a list of those currently doing work to help ease the impact of coronavirus on many areas of our lives.

Here's a collection of verified charities you can donate to in the fight against coronavirus:

Helping Hospitals And Health Care Workers

• Americares: Americares looks to ensure that front line healthcare workers can continue to do lifesaving work on behalf of patients with COVID-19 and those in need of care. Your donations translate directly into medicine and aid for local heath care providers in your community. The option to donate is available on its website.
• Direct Relief: Direct Relief is working to provide personal protective equipment and essential medical items to health workers responding to the coronavirus in the United States and across the world. You can donate here.
• Doctors Without Borders: Doctors Without Borders has already sent 3.5 metric tons of medical protective equipment to hospitals in China and Japan. The organization looks to help the nations hit the hardest by the coronavirus crisis and you can donate to help with medical supplies here.
• Good 360: Good360 is committed to providing people in need and health care workers with N95 masks, nitrile gloves, hand sanitizer and a variety of other items that help combat the coronavirus. You can donate here.
• Medical Teams International: Medical Teams International helps ship personal protective equipment to hospitals in the United States and around the world. You can donate here.
• Project C.U.R.E: Project C.U.R.E is making its resources available to the hospitals and first responders in Denver, Nashville, Phoenix, Houston, Philadelphia, Kansas City and Chicago. The organization is donating all of its masks, gloves and other items needed to fight the coronavirus. You can donate here.

Helping Children

• A Chance In Life: A Chance In Life is dedicated to helping children in the most vulnerable communities across the world during the new coronavirus outbreak. 100 percent of ongoing donations will be used for needs related to combatting COVID-19, and you can donate on the organizations website.
• ChildFund: ChildFund is working with institutions of health and education in its vast network of countries that it serves during the coronavirus outbreak. You can donate here or choose to sponsor a child.

• Family Promise: The organization is a leading figure in assisting with family homelessness, children in need of help and emergency shelter. Currently Family Promise has set up a form that allows 100 percent of donations to go to COVID-19 relief in the areas of the United States that need it most.
• HealthCorps: HealthCorps is dedicated to improving the lives of teenagers across America. During the coronavirus outbreak the organization is dedicating denotations to aid with heath and wellness for teens throughout the country. You can donate on the HealthCorps website.
• No Kid Hungry: With schools closed nationwide due to the coronavirus, children are missing out on meals they would be getting. The organization estimates that 101 million meals were missed this week alone. You can donate to help No Kid Hungry supply food for children across the country on its website.
• Prevent Child Abuse: Prevent Child Abuse America has a long history of supplying relief to the children who need it most across the United States. You can visit the organization's website to donate to help kids during the coronavirus outbreak.
• Save The Children: A global leader in child-focused humanitarian response, Save the Children has a mobilized a program to provide support to kids throughout the country, including medial supplies and preparedness training to the nation's most vulnerable regions. You can donate on the organization's website.
• Unicef USA: Unicef allows you to make 100 percentage charitable donations that are 100 percent tax-deductible. The organization lets you donate directly from its website.

Helping With Food And Water

• Convoy Of Hope: Convoy of Hope launched its 10 Million Meals campaign on Wednesday as a response to the coronavirus crisis. To help with the campaign you can donate here.
• Feeding America: Feeding America is the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the nation, with more than 200 food banks across the nation. It recently set up a fund specifically for providing foods to the communities most impacted by the pandemic in the country. You can donate here.
• Meals On Wheels: Meals on Wheels has been supplying vulnerable seniors with meals since the coronavirus outbreak began in the United States. The costs and efforts needed to protect seniors from the virus require additional funds and you can donate here.
• United Way: The organization has set up a COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund that allocates 95 percent of all donations to provide relief for those left vulnerable by the pandemic. United Way specifically looks to make sure people are provided with food and shelter. You can donate here.
• Water Mission: Water Mission seeks to provide urgently needed safe water, sanitation and hygiene solutions to under-resourced communities combatting the spread of coronavirus. You can donate here.
• World Food Program USA: The organization has been helping feed children, families and older adults since 1962. World Food Program USA lets you donate to especially at risk areas, such as Yemen, Syria and Bangladesh. You can donate here.

Helping In General

• American Red Cross: American Red Cross is currently looking for volunteers to help support and shield people in need during the coronavirus outbreak. The organization sends volunteers throughout the world and in the United States. You can donate to the Red Cross or sign up to donate blood here.
• Boys & Girls Club: The Boys & Girls Clubs of America are assisting local communities during this coronavirus outbreak by providing meals, programming and support to those who need it most. You can donate to the organization here.
• CARE USA: CARE's Emergency Surge Fund is distributing soap, water, and is installing 10,000 hand washing stations throughout the world to combat the coronavirus outbreak. Additionally, a generous donor has promised to match every gift up to $250,000. You can donate here.
• Catholic Relief: A donation to Catholic Relief will help strengthen communications about the virus and promote proper hand-washing and sanitation in some of the most vulnerable areas in the world. You can donate here.
• CDC Foundation: The Centers for Disease and Control has been at the forefront of the fight against coronavirus in the United States and you can donate to the organization to help in its public service. Donations are matched in many cases.
• GiveDirectly: GiveDirectly allows you to send money directly to people that need it the most. The organization delivers cash to households that are identified as vulnerable. You can donate here.
• Mercy Corps: Mercy Corps has teams in more than 40 countries across the world working to combat the coronavirus outbreak. The organization has set up a COVID-19 Resilience Fund that helps provide emergency supplies, food, clean water and urgently needed support to vulnerable families and communities. You can donate here.
• Salvation Army: Financial donations to the Salvation Army help ensure that the organization can continue to support local communities through the purchase of goods during the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Non-perishable foods, baby supplies, hygiene products and paper products are also welcome at select Salvation Army facilities. You can find out more and donate here.

In addition to helping in a time of crisis, individuals give to charitable organizations for many reasons. Other motivations often come into play when choosing which charity to support, according to Croson. For example, social information plays a huge role in whether someone decides to give.

"Knowing that others are giving in these situations — and even sometimes knowing how much — significantly increases someones likelihood of giving and their generosity," Croson said.

The reliability and credibility of the organization is also pivotal — everyone wants to know their money will have an impact on the area they intend, Croson added.

To do this, Croson suggested vetting organizations through sources like Charity Watch, Charity Navigator, GuideStar, the Better Business Bureau and Consumer Reports, all of which provide ratings for philanthropic organizations that can help evaluate a charity's reputability.

The Federal Trade Commission also offers an online source to vet charitable organizations. It’s crucial during a time of crisis to do so. In fact, both the FTC and the American Association of Retired Persons have reported an uptick in scammers contacting Americans and attempting to defraud them by claiming to represent a fake charity.

Patch reporter Megan VerHelst contributed to this article.