If you haven't already donated to help the victims of Katrina, you need to. But here's something else to consider: I think there will be plenty of money in the short term (although if everybody int the U.S. donated only $10, we should be generating almost three BILLION dollars instead of the less-than-a-billion numbers I'm hearing now). But what happens two months or six months or eight months from now, when all the short-term money has been spent, and nobody can go back to NO because it's still not livable? We need to start thinking long term about how we can help these folks become self-sufficient once their $2K debit cards are all used up.
Maybe they'll be absorbed by their current host communities and there won't be any problems, and I'll be the first to admit that I don't have any specific ideas. If you've got any ideas - or if you've read about any - leave me a comment.
I always encourage honest well intentioned philanthropy. However, I always question whether the money not only makes it to its intended target but also what the recipient does once they receive it. Perhaps someone who just lost their home should be free to spend their $2000 on lap dances, luis vitton hand bags, alcohol and other similar frivolous "life-saving" items, who am I to judge. I wouldn't mind giving to those individuals who seek to ensure there survival, yet for someone to finance some lap dances at strip clubs, I think that is simply not justified. It is terrible to see people reaching out to help and then those that get the help to just waste their helping funds on things such as these. Perhaps if those few had not gone and wasted their federal money on such unecessary things there would be a greater outpooring of donations.