I have purposely not posted about Katrina, New Orleans, the government response and Kanye West. Why should I? There are loads of commentary, news reports and other interesting clips and borig articles about the events during and since Katrina hit the coast.
About the only thing I can contribute to the discussion at this point is that the finger pointing should probably subside for the time being until a solid solution is put in place to solve the numerous problems that have surfaced since Katrina came barging in on our country. So, if you would like to help, do so, but carefully.
No need to donate to that strange voice that called during dinner soliciting donations for the Red Cross. He doesn’t work for them, and the Red Cross doesn’t do things that way. You can donate at various official donation sites online.
Don’t drive down to Louisina thinking you can just jump right in and help. Your being there may just cause more trouble if you don’t know what you’re doing or don’t know how to help. Volunteer at a local chapter of the Red Cross. They need help, too. There is a lot of confusion right now, and a few heads may need some clearing in order to better organize the efforts to more efficiently help those in need.
And a few things to keep in mind: while Katrina is the "disaster of the moment," don’t forget that other disasters have happened, future disasters will happen, and there will always be people in need. If you donate money to an organization, don’t get so upset if some money that has been donated since Katrina goes to other relief efforts. Call me naive, but legitimate relief organizations aren’t out there to rip you off when you donate. They take your donation and put it to work helping those in need, whether it is Katrina survivors, tsunami survivors, or the homeless on lower Wacker. How do you draw the line on who is worthy of help and who isn’t?
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