I knew my previous post about MY house was shallow, but dammit, I didn't know I could feel THIS bad about writing those words.
If you are reading this, right now, you are fortunate. You and I are sitting in warm, dry homes, with clean clothes on and food in our kitchens. We have televisions and computers and other toys which are beyond the wildest dreams of peasants on the other side of the world and even in our own hemisphere.
Give. Give money, now, today, to help the relief agencies. Pick one. Don't tell me "I never give to XYZ because they are corrupt." Shut up and pick a charity you CAN support. At the bottom of this post is a list.
Take out that credit card - you know you have it right near the PC. You use it to buy clothes, download music, play online poker, whatever. Put it to good use. Give a little. It will still help. Give a little bit more. Stop and really think about it for a minute , and then give the way that you would give if it was YOUR mother, your brother, your cousins.
These people have literally been left with nothing. They're reeling from shock and the pain of knowing that some of their families, their best friends, are missing and probably dead. Life as they know it is over. Everything they own - every sentimental gift they ever received, every photograph of their families, all gone. They are hungry and thirsty and surrounded by water full of more vile stuff than you can imagine. Sewage. Chemicals. Bodies.
If you have family down south, and have not been able to contact them, my thoughts and prayers are with you.
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists these organizations for those seeking to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina:
Donate cash:
American Red Cross (800) HELP NOW (435-7669) English; (800) 257-7575 Spanish
Operation Blessing (800) 436-6348
America's Second Harvest (800) 344-8070
To donate cash or volunteer:
Adventist Community Services (800) 381-7171
Catholic Charities, USA (703) 549-1390
Christian Disaster Response (941) 956-5183 or (941) 551-9554
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (800) 848-5818
Church World Service (800) 297-1516
Convoy of Hope (417) 823-8998
Lutheran Disaster Response (800) 638-3522
Mennonite Disaster Service (717) 859-2210
Nazarene Disaster Response (888) 256-5886
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (800) 872-3283
Salvation Army (800) SAL-ARMY (725-2769)
Southern Baptist Convention -- Disaster Relief (800) 462-8657, ext. 6440
United Methodist Committee on Relief (800) 554-8583
3 comments:
Bad, bad Bug...!
Just for the record, the DNC asked all of it's members to donate to the Red Cross. The blame game on the lack of infrastructure expenditure is not being emailed by them.
Call me stupid, but it was just today that I realized the water isn't going anywhere by itself. You always think of flood waters coming in, then receding. LA is a bowl. It's not going away until they physically pump it away. So yeah, Carly. I unlimbered the 'ol credit card. Maybe not like if it was my mother or brother, but it's something, I guess.
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