Katrina Flood Relief Drive

"After a night of Category 1 hurricane force wind and rain, after the following day of clean up and damage assessment, of helping neighbors do the same tree cutting and clean up of their and our yards and homes, after yet another night sleeping in the August Miami heat without power or A/C, after traveling through the streets of Miami the following day with trees and debris strewn everywhere, car horns honking, traffic lights out, people screaming at each other in traffic, desperate, hot, frustrated, angry, worried, irritated and helpless I witnessed something that brought tears to my eyes.

As I made my way down to a friends house to help bring a tree from off of his neighbors home, having just witnessed the ugliest side of human nature in traffic, there on the sidewalk in front of a church, in over 90 degree heat and humidity that made it feel like 110, standing in the midday Miami sun, were two young ladies, couldn't have been more than 20 years old, holding up signs towards the oncoming traffic.

They read, simply, "FREE LUNCH."

After what we had just been through, not even a fraction of what the folks up in the Gulf States are going through now, my faith in humanity was restored. I pulled up next to them, tears rolling down my cheeks, thanked them and said, simply "God bless you."

Here were these two young ladies, whose homes and families had just been through the exact same trials as my own, taking time and effort away from their own problems to help others in need. God bless them indeed.

Today we are running a blogosphere wide collection for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf States. Each blogger chooses one charitable organization and prods his readers for donations. My somewhat stern post yesterday was a success. Lots of people donated to the listed charities and many folks emailed me thanking me for getting them off their behinds and making them do something to help.

A humungous thank you to each and every one of you that made the sacrifice and donated for this more than worthy cause.

But it isnt over yet.

Babalú has chosen the Catholic Charities USA organization as its official charity and I urge you all to DONATE A FEW DOLLARS NOW.

I chose this particular charity as they were instrumental with the assistance to many Cuban refugees arriving in the USA throughout the years.

I cannot even begin to state how proud I am to be an American, how lucky I feel to have been accepted and allowed to prosper and live in this great nation. How honored and humbled I am to have the privilege of our freedoms."
Babalu Blog

This Fucking War does not endorse any one charity over any other, but that does not mean that I am not asking my reader to cooperate with this drive. I implore you to give, and give as much as you possibly can, and help my neighbors to the north cope with this disaster. Choose a charity, I have included that link as it mentions many charities, if none of those suit you, please donate to the charity of your choice, but please donate.

Fayrouz over at Iraqi in America is also urging you to help, and has a link with more options.

Also remember that one way we can all help not only those directly affected by the storm, but also help yourself deal with the aftermath is to conserve resources. DON'T WASTE ENERGY Everyone can help the situation by not wasting energy. A gallon conserved = a gallon produced. it's a very simple equation that anyone can understand.