The United Way has a lot of overhead. Not all the money will get there.

The Red Cross, in my opinion is a poor choice, because what they do best is emergency relief and the emergency is over. After 9/11 they diverted a significant portion of the donations to other efforts and to their own administration. There is is no reason to believe they would not do the same here.

The Salvation Army is and excellent charity but a very slowly growing church. That's because they don't spend the donated money on themselves. I would feel much better about sending the money to them rather than the Red Cross and the United Way. But then again, the time for emergency help has passed.

If I were you Dianivan I would have my class find a school or a children's hospital or orphanage that was profoundly damaged by the storm and send the money directly there.