Tsunami relief donations - what to do?

I am shocked by the death toll caused by the tsunami. The media is crediting bloggers with spearheading relief efforts. I think that's great, but you have to be careful to send donations to charities that are legitimate and trustworthy. I wouldn't be surprised if some anonymous bloggers tried to exploit this horrible tragedy for their own personal gain. One suggestion is donating to the Red Cross through the Amazon.com home page. Some people I've spoken to are skeptical about this idea; they feel that sending money to organizations like these is like sending soft money to political groups, and that much of the money may not actually be used for relief efforts. That's a good point. There is always a possibility that money can be mismanaged, especially when there are millions of dollars involved. But as far as I know, the Red Cross has a good reputation. And in this case, the world will be watching them. So sending donations to the Red Cross through Amazon is not a bad idea. But my personal suggestion is to donate through your local church. That's what I'm doing.