Kowabunga

This story begins on Thursday afternoon when I received a communication that the United Way Caring Connections was looking for volunteers to man various Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. I took a look at my schedule and decided that the food drop and truck loading being organized by Edina Reality in Eagan, with Hope for the City on Friday afternoon was the right fit, so I sent an email asking to be scheduled for that time and place.

I received confirmation back Friday morning, and after lunch, I wrapped up my work day and headed down to Edina Realty in Eagan to help load that truck.

When I arrived at the site, just before two in the afternoon (schedule was 2-6), they were in the midst of offloading bottled water from a pickup truck onto the trailer. The pickup was fully loaded with water. The guy driving it said there would be more coming.

Water is probably the number one physical need (cash is king in an emergency like this), and there had been quite a bit of bottled water dropped at this site. Along with food, new clothing, and critically needed baby supplies.

People came bringing a variety of goods to fulfil a variety a needs, and they came with a bag or two of items, and occasionally with a truck load of goods. All of the donations were given with the biggest of hearts.

There is one story I want to tell, though: one of the volunteers from the early shift, owns a restaurant. When she finished the first shift, she called her supplier and worked out a deal to by goods at his cost. She then contacted some friends and pooled together some funds to purchase a pickup truck load of canned goods and water. When she and her husband pulled in at the drop site, we were just closing for the day. We reopened the trailer and offloaded the pickup as quickly as we could, getting the goods stacked neatly on pallets in the trailer. The point of this particular story is the ingenuity that one person came up with to help accomplish the goal of acquiring goods to help those in dire need. This was a very creative way of getting the best bang for the buck, so to speak, and my hat is off to her.

There was a second, personal, benefit to having fun out and volunteered for the afternoon. I had the opportunity to meet and chat with some very nice people, so smiles put on the faces of some very young children who were being introduced to giving at an early age (they even got their pictures taken by the folks from Edina Reality) and it was just plain fun.

I'd like to thank Edina Reality and their staff for hosting this drop zone, and they took darned good care of the volunteers with a cooler full of water, and arranging with Panera Bread to provide lunch and snacks, Cold Stone Creamery providing an ice cream treat in the afternoon and Domino's Pizza providing an end of day pizza, all of which was donated.

These drop off zones will be active through Sunday, Sept 11th, from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.

Posted by Sqotty at 9:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
View blog reactions

Hugh Hewitt, Instapundit and the blogosphere as a whole is organizing a Blog-O-Thon for relief in order to help people find ways that they can donate money to help the people impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

I don't have to go in to the details of how serious a disaster this is, the media has full coverage of the magnitude of the damage, and the many tens or hundreds of thousands made homeless overnight.

Hugh Hewitt has a list of organizations that you can contribute to, as does Instapundent.

Also, the United Way has made it possible to contribute to Hurricane Katrina relief through its E-Way online donation system.

Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is running a campaign for Hurricane Katrina Relief.

Lest we forget, many service members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan have families in the region devestated by Hurricane Katrina. Soldiers Angels. contributions can be sent to:

Soldier's Angels Foundation Operation Katrina Relief 1792 East Washington Blvd. Pasadena, California 91104

Or made online at Soldiers Angels.

Americans pulled together to generate millions of dollars for Tsunami Relief earlier this year. I hope that we can do the same, or better, for Hurricane Katrina Relief which has hit our own backyard.

Posted by Sqotty at 8:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
View blog reactions

I was visiting Wombat Ramblings, a buddy of mine, and he has a good piece about how Katrina is going to have an impact on the ag business, especially since the Port of New Orleans is out of the picture for the duration.

One other thing to bear in mind is that there is now a shortage of transportation for this year's harvest, which also have an impact on the economy.

We're in for a rough one this year.

Again, my thoughts and prayers to those affected by this disaster.

Posted by Sqotty at 6:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
View blog reactions

As mentioned in my message at the top of my blog, there are ongoing efforts within the blogosphere to help direct readers to organizations that have set up Hurricane Katrina Relief funds, and several bloggers, most notably Hugh Hewitt and Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundant, are at the forefront of these efforts.

The magnitude of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina is astronomical, and the mainstream media has been doing a tremendous job reporting on it. The scope of this natural disaster is still not known. 80% of New Orleans is reported to be underwater, with some places as deep as 20 feet.

How many people have been made homeless by this disaster has yet to be determined, with some 25,000 refugees heading to Houston, and thousands more displaced in other places in the region, it will be some time before the total number of people living in refugee camps will be known.

The mayor of New Orleans has estimated (guessed) that the death toll there will be in the thousands. If so, this will be the highest death toll due to a natural disaster to hit the United States since the 1906 San Francisco quake. In other places hit by Katrina, the death toll was at 123 as of August 31.

My thoughts and prayers are with all the people hit by Hurricane Katrina.

Posted by Sqotty at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
View blog reactions

Arthru C. Clarke has posted an article on the Clarke Foundation website.

In it, Clarke outlines many of the problems and activiities of man that have worn down natures natural defenses against the elements, some of which might have reduced the impact the tsunami had on Sri Lanka. whether it is the destruction of the coral reefs or the the mangrove forests, Clarke points out that these have a roll to play in keeping the ravages of nature in check.

Give it a read, it is well worth it.

Posted by Sqotty at 8:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
View blog reactions

As has been mentioned in an earlier article, Captain Ed of Captain's Quarters, has begun a drive to accumulate $25,000 in Tsunami relief aid for World Vision, by January 12th. The Blog-O-Thon is well on its way and, as of this writing, is about half way to the desired goal.

Need a reason to give? Here's a few: millions of people devastated in the region, left homeless, without food, water or shelter; many children have been orphaned by this disaster; relief groups have a desperate need of funds to help those affected by this disaster.

How about tax deductions? From Fox News

In Washington as the new Congress convened, legislators announced plans to introduce a bill that would allow Americans to claim tax deductions when filing their 2004 forms for donations made through Jan. 31 to tsunami relief efforts.

If this goes through, you'll still be able to use it for your 2004 taxes.

It is bad enough that Jan Egeland Washington Times article, claims that the U.S. is being stingy.

U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland suggested that the United States and other Western nations were being "stingy" with relief funds, saying there would be more available if taxes were raised.

"It is beyond me why are we so stingy, really," the Norwegian-born U.N. official told reporters.

So let's get it together and show them how it is done: voluntary contributions.

I've given. Now it's your turn.

Posted by Sqotty at 8:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
View blog reactions

I don't think there is a soul in the Blogosphere who is unaware of the Tsunami that smashed South East Asia, with the island of Sri Lanka taking the brunt of it. What you may not know is that Sri Lanka is the home of one of the greatest Science Fiction writers of all time, Arhur C. Clarke.

Over on Sir Arthur's website, The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation, there is an open message to the world, assuring us that his household and staff have survived the ravages of the tsunami.

Thank you for your concern about my safety in the wake of last Sunday's devastating tidal wave.

I am enormously relieved that my family and household have escaped the ravages of the sea that suddenly invaded most parts of coastal Sri Lanka, leaving a trail of destruction. But many others were not so fortunate. My heart-felt sympathy goes out to all those who lost family members or friends.

Our staff members are all safe, even though some are badly shaken and relate harrowing first hand accounts of what happened. Most of our diving equipment and boats at Hikkaduwa were washed away. We still don't know the full extent of damage -- it will take a while for us to take stock as accessing these areas is still difficult

There is much more, including a list of relief agencies.

Captain Ed of Captain's Quarters has set forth a plan to cause a deluge of contributions to the World Vision, with a goal of $25,000 by January 12th. Ed is a heckuva good man and I encourage people to do like wise. I have donated on-line.

When I heard on the radio today that some chap from the U.N. has been blasting the United States as being stingy when it comes to helping those in need, it's time to pick up the gauntlet and show them what helping people in need means and how it should be done: Thru one's own pocket book!

So, folks, you have a choice: you can contribute via World Vision and help push Captain Ed closer to his goal, donate to help Sri Lanka via one of the sites listed on The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation, you can do both (or more) or even use some other relief organization. Or, you can show these U.N. wacko's that they are right and that the U.S. is stingy (assuming that you have a couple of bucks to spare). Hopefully you won't choose that last.

Posted by Sqotty at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
View blog reactions