There was a time in the not so distant past that hurricane relief meant turning down a refill on your hurricane at Pat O's in the French Quarter so that you could toddle off to the next bar. I hope we see those days again.
In the meantime, a lot of people are putting their money where their mouths are:
Michele has things up for auction to benefit the victims
and
Phin is put up for auction a web re-design.
Kathy has a good post on disaster relief, including a reminder that the American Red Cross has nothing to do with the International Red Cross, an important reminder for those of us who dislike the IRC.
Finally, I direct you to Little Green Footballs for a huge collection of links to charities.
For me, personally, I intend to wait a little before donating. I want to see where I think I can send my money to do the most good. At the moment, I don't have a clear idea so I will sit back a bit. I have emotional and real connections to the town and its people and there are local charities, local institutions, which may have first claim on me. I'm waiting to see what they need.
In the meantime, I understand that all of my friends are safe, or they were two days ago. I am very thankful. Very thankful, indeed.
Posted by Random Penseur at September 1, 2005 09:46 AM | TrackBackRP,
Glad to hear your friends are all well. It was such a great relief to hear my best friend's voice late yesterday that I just broke down and cried as soon as I hung up the phone.
As a former relief worker that's usually what I do. I give a small initial amount to either Catholic Charities or the American Red Cros, both organizations who I know the inner workings of and have had the opportunity to observe where and how much of the money is channeled to relief, which is part of my criticism of the Int'l Red Cross.
As of late yesterday my firm began matching donations, so now my donation will have an even greater impact. Your post yesterday was awesome and so poignant. My displaced best friend is a writer, and the pulse of creativity and culture that you referred to is why she moved there and what she will miss the most. Thank you for reminding us of that!
Posted by: Michele at September 1, 2005 10:15 AMCheck this out, too: http://www.strengthenthegood.com/