Three years ago, Paige Dukes went to Mississippi to help with the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

She says although there was an outpouring of aid, much of it ended up creating even more problems.

"We had parking lots of just clothes and clothes and clothes," Dukes says.

Dukes says hordes of used clothes were donated by good Samaritans.

But officials lacked the resources to clean, sift and distribute them, so the clothes filled parking lots and were later taken to the dump.

"Its very important that you donate the items that are asked for when they're asked for," Dukes warns.

Officials say instead of used clothes, donate items like toothbrushes, deodorant, baby wipes, adult diapers, and cleaning supplies like bleach and mops.

Shannon Zapf with America's Second Harvest says, "The best thing to donate food-wise is things like peanut butter and canned fruits, canned vegetables, canned meats."

If you'd like to help by donating canned goods, officials say for every five or six cans, don't forget the can opener.

Paige Dukes says, "People were trying to open canned goods with knives, nails and hammers and all kinds of things, of course, they were being cut by those canned goods."

Rodney Walker believes donating is important and says, "You can get the cans with the little pop top on it so you don't need a can opener."

Officials say while it's great to open your heart and help those who are hurting, don't just give anything, find out what's needed.

America's Second Harvest says the following items are needed for shelters:
Toothpaste
Tooth Brushes
Disposable Razors
Shaving Cream
Hair Brushes
Feminine Hygiene Products
Deodorant
Mouth Wash
Bath Soap
Shampoo
Conditioner
Baby Wipes
Diapers
Adult Diapers

The organization also suggests the following ways to help when disaster strikes:

1) Financial contributions are often the best kind of donation to make.
2) Used Clothing is rarely a useful item to collect for disaster relief.
3) Confirm the need before beginning a collection of donated goods
4) Donate through an organization
5) Donated goods must be well packed and labeled.