As you might be aware, local Search and Rescue organizations have been very busy this Summer. Here is just one example:
http://www.sierrawave.net/13551/sheriffs-deputies-search/Most SAR units are all unpaid, volunteer individuals who give of their time (and occasionally their lives) to come to the aid of the sick, injured and lost in the backcountry. Most of them receive a small amount of money from their local law enforcement agencies, but derive most of their financial support from donations. They deserve your financial support! Nearly every part of the country has local volunteer SAR units, which also rely on donations.
Here are the websites of three local units that spend alot of time on rescues in the Mt. Whitney and Easter Sierra Nevada region:
http://www.inyosar.org/http://www.clmrg.org/http://www.monosar.org/Contact them and consider what your can donate to a very worthy cause...that might directly affect you some day.
