Oh, the tragedy, the humanity: Donate Now (amazon link)
I am hearing in my head a replay of the radio broadcast that went out live as the airship Hindenburg crashed during "docking" at its U.S. arrival.
For the next few days, I am not going to be adding anything to the Orcmid's Lair pages that is not related to the current tragedy in Asia.
My worst nightmare is of airfields glutted with aircraft, goods, and personnel that can't be delivered to the point of need because of the extreme logistic difficulties, especially for access to the earthquake-shattered areas of Sumatra. We know there are people starving, with signs of disease now erupting in areas where survivors are congregated.
I am certain there are many smart and dedicated people looking for creative ways to shave hours and days off of the time it will take to bring helicopters, fuel, and crews into position where they can make a life-saving difference for those now seriously at risk. This is also entirely in the hands of multinational, diplomatic, and military arrangements with not much that private citizens can do but pray.
What remains available to us? First, there are many ways to donate and on-line donations are easy to make through relief organizations that you trust and via web sites of organizations like Google, amazon.com, and Apple Computer.
- Support existing emergency response organizations.
- Donate cash as the most convertible, redirectable, and useful for bringing relief to effected areas.
- If you have any access to a gift-matching arrangement through an employer or other organization, use that.
- People want to know what is being done. Watching the tally at amazon.com approach $5,000,000, a number that was exceeded while I wrote this, matters. Organizations that have been working privately to formulate responses and provide assistance need to become visible, so that people know they are part of a concerted effort that has many forms. If you are involved with an organization or business that is mobilizing any response, even if it is letting employees know their gifts will be matched, make sure your efforts are visible on your public web pages too.
People are also creating benefit activities around New Years Eve and later events. I am not a fan of MoveOn.org (and I think signing a mass petition is neither "helping" nor "taking action"), but a recent MoveOn spam does mention a member's urging that people spend some time in New Years Eve gatherings making donations, say using the household computer (but be careful of malware). What are your plans for a humanitarian New Year?
The situation is changing rapidly, but here are some recent gleanings on how things are going:
- MSNBC.com: The Washington Post reports that the use of the internet as a means of raising funds is as dramatic as the public response so far.
- Local newspapers, such as the Seattle P-I, are providing information on activities that are happening in the community. Check on-line resources in your community.
- Yahoo.com covers the effectiveness of the SEA-EAT blog in connecting people with local organizations and sources in Asia, and the 24-hour activities of volunteers in maintaining current blog information.
- I've read of people donating frequent-flyer miles for use by relief organizations. I haven't found anything on airline sites or travel sites that describe how to do this.
posted by orcmid
at 12/30/2004 11:01:23 AM
