When Disaster Struck, Yahoo! Was There to Help

Yahoo! for Good Scrum, Disaster Preparedness and Response
Yahoo! for Good Scrum allows employees to take up to three months off of their typical day jobs, and apply their skills to projects that deliver a positive impact on the world. For example, Scrummers are building a one-stop destination where people around the world can find needed information in a time of disaster. We’re creating a system to help reunite and communicate with family and friends, and a platform to help victims find shelters. The team creating the site includes Yahoos who were actively involved in Yahoo!’s response to Hurricane Katrina. To see other Yahoo! for Good Scrum projects, click here.

Hurricane Katrina
After Hurricane Katrina struck, we partnered with VolunteerMatch, the Red Cross and Network for Good to provide donation and volunteer opportunities both locally and in the areas most affected by the disaster. Through promotion of these donation sites on our network, Yahoo! created an online store that helped its users donate over $57 million so far toward relief efforts.

To help connect survivors with loved ones, we created People Finder, a meta-search tool that searches multiple missing persons sites simultaneously. We also created Job Finder which helps evacuees find jobs and allows employers to post jobs in the areas impacted by the hurricane. For a list of other useful resources, click here.

We also hosted a Back in Business event to help Gulf Coast entrepreneurs and small business owners get back on their feet and to help jump-start economic recovery in the region. Partnered with BellSouth and ecommerce partner Solid Cactus, we provided free hands-on training and up to $1,500 in free products per attendee. Over 200 small business owners attended the event, and 150 brought their business web sites up that day.

In addition to creating the above tools and events, Yahoo! employees and the company donated over $277,000 to relief organizations through donations and the corporate match. The Yahoo! Employee Foundation donated $25,000 to the Red Cross and $75,000 to Habitat for Humanity. In addition, Yahoo! helped send 30 employees to the Houston Astrodome and Dallas Center to support relief efforts by providing IT technical expertise and on the ground assistance.

Yahoo! continues to support survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Check out DonorsChoose to find and fund projects to help schools in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. Or go to Network for Good to donate to nonprofits working in the area. If you’re a fan of Reggie Bush, you can help him raise money for Rebuilding Together through the Run Reggie Run program.

Tsunami Relief
Within hours of the news about the tsunami in South Asia and the resulting devastation, Yahoo! posted resources on its front page so people could learn more about the tragedy and immediately donate to internationally-known organizations. Because Yahoo! is a global company, we were able to reach out to all corners of the world, in 25 different countries and 13 languages. Every front page of our international Yahoo! network featured information in the local language directing people to local resources and ways to help. We also webcast the NBC Concert of Hope to help raise money and awareness for the victims of the tsunami.

In total, we helped organizations such as the Red Cross, UNICEF, Save the Children, CARE, AmeriCares, and Oxfam raise more than $13 million.

9/11 & 9/11 Anniversary
In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, Yahoo! provided a quick and secure way to donate to nonprofit organizations that responded to the disaster. Yahoo! hosted the Red Cross site for several weeks to help the Red Cross handle the significant increase in online traffic following the disaster. In less than 3 weeks, we helped organizations such as the Red Cross, Save the Children, the Salvation Army, and the United Way of America raise more than $30 million on our network. Yahoo! also served as the online host for the “Tribute to Heroes” telethon and its donation site.

On the first anniversary of 9/11, Yahoo! established the Living Tribute site to give people all over the world the opportunity to share their thoughts and connect with others. Participants from 217 countries and all 50 of the United States created more than a half-million tiles of expression on this site.