Relief Efforts for Haiti

Nothing like a real disaster to put my petty bitching about the weather and a few dozen extra people in my house into perspective.  I'm just grateful to still have a house and all those people to stuff in it now.

I'm aware that times are very tough for the majority of the average workers worldwide but, if you have anything at the moment, it's more than a lot of the people of Haiti can claim.  Give what you can, and make your gifts count.  Make sure you're giving to an organization that gets the aid into the field and not into the pocket of some fund raiser.  Instead of texting $10 to the Red Cross and having $1 or more of it disappear along the way in bank and phone charges go to the bank and withdraw the money, take it to the local Red Cross office, and--while you're there--ask what they need in addition to money.  They probably have a very long list of volunteer jobs that need to be filled to support their relief efforts.  And there will be lots of other groups who can use your labor, your soon to be out of date canned food, serviceable used cloths, shoes, and lots of other items you just might have lying around.  Check for local churches and civic organizations that are mounting relief efforts and pitch in.