Why Should You Donate?

When areas of the country is in need, you have so many people and organizations asking you to donate to their cause to help those that are hurting or that have such a great loss. 

Let me share a personal story with you of an experience I had surviving a disaster. I was working in radio in South Louisiana in 1995. This story takes place in Lake Charles and it is September, exactly 2 weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit and devastated New Orleans and the southeast coast of Louisiana. Lake Charles, LA is in the southwest portion of the state and is about 60 miles east of Beaumont, Texas.

Lake Charles got a direct hit from Hurricane Rita and I was one of the few people that stayed in the city even after the evacuation was ordered. Being that I was media, I had access and authority to stay at ground zero for Hurricane Rita.

We had provisions and this was not my first rodeo in terms of hurricanes, but Rita was a monster! When Rita hit,the lake over flowed into the city. The city was hit with winds of 120+ mph and many people lost homes, property and some lost everything, but there was no loss of live because people took the advice to evacuate early before the storm made landfall. Keep in mind that Rita was right after Hurricane Katrina, so people were very scared and took the advice to leave the path of the storm. This was not a storm to play with!

After about 12 hours of wind and rain, the storm moved inland and left a path of destruction  in the city. There wasn't  power, fresh water or city services. All we had was the food that we brought at the radio station. We had enough for a week or so, but my crew was about 4 people and one dog, my dog Skully.  Even though we had a generator to power the radio station, it only powered the control rooms and not the air condition. At times like this, you really see the humanity in people and it restores your faith in mankind. People looking out for each other. Total strangers that you have never seen in the town before sharing what they had to help you get by.

What we did have as soon as the skies cleared, was the Calvary come to town. I'm speaking of the National Guard with food, fresh water and heavy equipment to clear the roads. Then these groups and organizations, most of, I have never heard of before. Agencies like "Cooking for Christ". This was a group that set up a tent, cooked three hot meals a day and started to serve up real food- HOT FRESH FOOD!  The Red Cross came to town with meals and toiletries and those were handed out with out question to who ever needed it. Other organizations set up shop in cleared parking lots and handed out clothes, canned goods, diapers and had generators to power up cell phones and computers. Local restaurants cooked food that they had in their freezers. They cooked it outside their business and gave it away. After all, this meat would spoil if they did not make use of it, so they grilled the meat or use butane burners to cook this food before it spoiled. It was given away free, no questions asked. A hot meal was hard to come by without the utilities we all take for granted.

Looking back I realized how lucky the community was. We had all these groups from very far away, parked at the city limits road blocks and waited to get permission to set up shop to cook and care for people,  they have never met. To live through something like this makes you realize how great strangers are, how lucky we are to live in a country that cares for one another and to feel the love and support from total strangers. They saw a need, they provided a service or food because that is what we do in this country when a community or state is in need help. They took it upon themselves to help total strangers and asked for nothing more than a smile or thank you.

You see, when you donate money to any of the many organizations that solicit for funds, I know from first hand experience, it goes to a good cause. Regardless of the organization  you donate to, believe me, it helps those people in need. You never know when these strangers with love and hope in their hearts will be the ones to help or serve you or your family in a time of need.

Here is a complete list of organizations where you can donate money. Good Speed to our friends in Oklahoma. Give what you can, help when you can. At some point in your path in life, it comes back to you.