I would like to start out by giving my heart to those affected by the disaster that was left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. This includes not only those that are stuck in the Gulf Coast area, but the families and friends that have loved ones who are struggling to survive, or worse yet, do not know if said loved ones are alive at all. I cannot comprehend the situation that is unfolding.

Two ways that Americans can help the situation using their mobile phones have come to my attention. The first being a donation to the American Red Cross through SMS text message. Post-Paid customers of Sprint Nextel or Verizon can send a message containing the word ‘help’ for Verizon or ‘give’ for Sprint Nextel to the number ‘2HELP’ (24357) to give a $5USD donation to the Red Cross. Customers will receive a confirmation message back and simply have to reply with the letter ‘y’ to confirm their donation. This can be done up to five times for a donation of $25USD, and will be charged on the customer’s next bill.

The second method comes from Cell4Cash.com. This company pays money for old, unwanted cell phones and is currently giving the option for people to donate 100% of the value of their cell phone to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. On top of this, for every donation made this way, Cell4Cash.com will donate an extra $1 on top of the value of the sold phone. If anyone has old, unused cell phones, I would encourage you to donate them through Cell4Cash.com.

If anyone has found any other methods of using their mobile handset to help in this crisis, please let me know through the Feedback page (just click on my name at the top of this story) and I will update this page with the details.