Restaurant fund-raisers

Ray's Boathouse

Funds raised go to Second Harvest, a national food-bank organization that will distribute to those in need affected by Hurricane Katrina.

For every salmon entrée sold during lunch or dinner during the month of September, $1 will be donated to Second Harvest; Ray's Boathouse, 6049 Seaview Ave. N.W., Seattle; 206-789-3770, www.rays.com, www.secondharvest.com

Concert fund-raisers

"Symphony of Relief"

Tickets: Free general admission tickets for "A Symphony of Relief" may be picked up in person only at the Seattle Symphony ticket office in Benaroya Hall (corner of Third and Union) before 7:45 Sept. 16 (subject to availability; up to four tickets per household). Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; concert starts at 8 p.m. at the hall, 200 University St., Seattle.

Donations: Checks or cash donations will be accepted during the evening. Credit-card transactions will not be available. Those who write checks made out to the "American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund" will be issued receipts by the Red Cross. No receipts will be given for cash donations.

Dimitriou's Jazz Alley event

When: Monday, Sept. 19; doors open at 6 p.m. on Monday, music starts at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave., Seattle.

Details: Headlining a long list of performers are Henry Butler, Annieville Blues and Lee Oskar; the emcee is Robin Lloyd of KPLU, and the deejay is Greg Vandy of KEXP. A minimum donation of $25 is suggested; all proceeds go to New Orleans displaced musicians (wwoz.org/clinic or www.jazzalley.com).

Other fund-raisers

Seahawks tickets

Donate $50 to Northwest Medical Teams to assist hurricane relief efforts and receive two tickets per donation to the Seahawks vs. Cardinals game on Sept. 25, while supplies last.

For more information and to donate visit www.nwmedicalteams.org.

Hurricane relief

The Seattle Times and KING 5 TV have joined efforts in NorthWest Response, a communitywide effort to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. You can donate at any US Bank in the name of Hurricane Relief — NorthWest Response. All money raised will go to the American Red Cross.

Bremerton Area Chamber of Commerce

Monetary donations for Biloxi Chamber of Commerce in Mississippi. Donate to Bremerton Area Chamber of Commerce, 301 Pacific Ave., P.O. Box 229, Bremerton, WA 98337; 360-479-3579

Quality Food Centers

Accepting monetary donations to the Red Cross at 81 QFC stores; www.kroger.com

PetSmart Charities

Donations accepted. Mail your donation directly to: PetSmart Charities, 19601 N. 27th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85027, Attn: Disaster Relief/Hurricane Katrina; www.petsmart.com/charities/index.shtml

Humane Society for Seattle/King County

Donations accepted to help animals affected by Hurricane Katrina. 425-373-5382, www.seattlehumane.org or checks payable to The Humane Society for Seattle/King County, Hurricane Katrina, 13212 S.E. Eastgate Way, Bellevue, WA 98005-4408.

Puyallup Fair

Donation breakdown

What will a $100 donation toward the Hurricane Katrina relief effort do?

It will allow a four-person family to eat for two days, provide them with two cases of drinking water and a home clean-up kit, which has cleaning supplies, mops and buckets, the Salvation Army estimates.

For every $1 donated to the relief effort, the Salvation Army uses 83 cents to deliver meals and clean water to disaster victims and provide emergency shelter, cleanup volunteer teams and counseling. To donate, visit www.salvationarmyusa.org.

Launching its largest effort to date, the American Red Cross puts 91 cents of every $1 toward its projects, with the remainder going to administration and fund-raising expenses. Hurricane Katrina donations are helping the Red Cross provide shelter for 94,000 evacuees, medical relief for victims and 500,000 hot meals daily.

To make sure your donation is used for the hurricane-relief effort, the Red Cross asks you to specify on checks by writing "Hurricane 2005 Relief" in the memo field, or clicking that option on your online donation forms at www.redcross.org.

Donations to assist Communities In Schools chapters to meet immediate needs for school-related efforts for schoolchildren affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Sept. 9-25, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; 110 Ninth Ave. S.W., Puyallup. Donation booths inside the Gold Gate; www.thefair.com , 253-841-5045, www.ciswa.org

Camano Island's Big Quack Records

All online September sales to Red Cross of "One Ton of Ducks," a CD with various local musicians. To buy CD online: www.bigquack.com

Other charities

American Red Cross: 800-HELP-NOW, www.seattleredcross.org, or The American Red Cross of King & Kitsap Counties, P.O. Box 3097, Seattle, WA 98114-3097.

Boeing: The company will match dollar for dollar current employee contributions and 50 percent of retiree contributions to aid relief fund; Employees Community Fund for Hurricane Katrina Relief, The Boeing Co., Attn: Employees Community Fund of Boeing, Alabama, P.O. Box 240002, MC JV106, Huntsville, AL 35824-6402; www.boeing.com

Catholic Charities USA: 800-919-9338, or www.catholiccharitiesusa.org

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 801-240-3544, or Humanitarian Aid Fund, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 50 E. North Temple St., Salt Lake City, UT 84150

Check before you give

You want to send money; relief agencies need it. But how do you know if the organization is legitimate or will use your money wisely? These tips can help.

• Basic questions: What's the name and address of the charity? Is the charity registered or licensed? How much money goes toward programs? And in the case of paid fund-raisers, how much money do they keep and how much goes to the charity?

• The Web site of the American Institute of Philanthropy, www.charitywatch.org, issues letter grades and gives details on about 500 charities nationwide.

• The site www.guidestar.org doesn't evaluate charities, but it provides a database on about 1 million U.S. nonprofits.

• The Better Business Bureau's wise-giving Web site, www.give.org , measures nonprofit agencies against 20 standards. The regional BBB offers more on local charities, online at www.thebbb.org . Or call 206-431-2222.

• Click on "charities" at www.secstate.wa.gov to find out if a charity or fund-raiser is registered with the state as required by law.

CM Travel fund-raiser: Donations up to 2 percent of travel arrangements to Hurricane Katrina Fund: fund@cmtravelwashington.com; www.cmtrav.com

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Disaster Response: 800-638-3522, or www.elca.org/disaster

Episcopal Relief and Development: 800-334-7626, ext. 5129, or www.er-d.org

Islamic Relief: 888-479-4968; www.irw.org

Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle: Check payable to Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Fund, 2031 Third Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 or donate online, www.jewishinseattle.org

Lutheran Disaster Response: 800-638-3522

MercyCorps: 888-256-1900, or www.mercycorps.org

Northwest Medical Teams: 800-959-4325; www.nwmedicalteams.org

Orthodox Church in America: 877-803-4622, or International Orthodox Christian Charities "Hurricane Relief," P.O. Box 630225, Baltimore, MD 21263-0225

People's Institute for Survival and Beyond Fund: Peoples Institute NYC, P.O. Box 250809, New York, NY 10025; www.pisab.org

Presbyterian Church USA: 800-872-3283, or www.pcusa.org/pda

Salvation Army: 800-SAL-ARMY, or www.salvationarmyusa.org

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Fund: Checks payable to North American Mission Board (NAMB) can be mailed to: NAMB, P.O. Box 116543, Atlanta, GA 30368-6543, or www.sbc.net

United Jewish Communities: www.ujc.org or donate through local Jewish Federation. Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle: 206-443-5400

United Methodist Committee on Relief: 800-554-8583, or http://gbgm-umc.org/

United Air Mileage Plus donations: Through Oct. 31, any donation of $50 or more, a deposit of 500 miles in your Mileage Plus account. To donate, choose American Red Cross, AmeriCares or Operation USA at http://mymileageplus.com/. You also may donate miles by calling Mileage Plus Customer Service, 800-421-4655.

United Way of Snohomish County Hurricane Katrina Response Fund

Checks payable to United Way, Hurricane Katrina Response Fund, 917 134th St. S.W., Suite B-1, Everett, WA 98204 or online, www.uwsc.org

World Concern: www.worldconcern.org

World Relief: Hurricane Katrina, 7 E. Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD 21202; 800-535-5433 www.worldrelief.org

World Vision: Hurricane Katrina, Checks payable to World Vision, P.O. Box 9716, Federal Way, WA 98063-9716; 888-511-6413; www.worldvision.org

Other charity resources

For a complete list of charitable agencies recommended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, visit www.fema.gov/rrr/help2.shtm.

In addition, Louisiana sent out a request nationwide for help in its field hospitals and special-needs shelters.

Internal Revenue Service Disaster relief toll-free number

People affected by Hurricane Katrina who need help with tax matters. 866-562-5227; Monday-Friday; 7 a.m.-10 p.m. local time; sww.irs.gov

i58 Projects

Connect families left homeless with temporary housing in surrounding areas; www.i58projects.org

Trinity Lutheran College

Special-needs scholarship to students affected by Hurricane Katrina

College offers a year's tuition to college students displaced; Trinity Lutheran College, 4221 228th Ave. S.E., Issaquah. To qualify, call 800-843-5659 or www.tlc.edu.

Best Friends Animal Society

Reunites pets with people affected by Hurricane Katrina

Best Friends coordinates information with other emergency workers out in the field, who will make every effort to get to homes where pets have been left behind or otherwise spotted. Provide name, current contact information, address of animal's location, pet's name, detailed pet description and electronic photo if one is available. 435-644-3965, ext. 4455, e-mail hurricane@bestfriends.org. To join the volunteer effort: Best Friends Animal Society, www.bestfriends.org.or 435-644-2001. Donate funds to Best Friends Hurricane Relief Fund. All funds are being directed in full to the local rescue efforts for animals in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Find loved ones

To get information about loved ones, call the American Red Cross at 866-GET-INFO (438-4636). People can also go through the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN): www.salvationarmyusa.org or www.satern.org.

The official Hurricane Katrina government Web site, with information on finding loved ones, what to do if you're a victim, how to help, and government-agency resources: www.firstgov.gov/Citizen/Topics/PublicSafety/Hurricane_Katrina_Recovery.shtml

Compiled by Suesan Whitney Henderson, Seattle Times staff. 206-464-2296 or swhenderson@seattletimes.com.