This month’s donation was a no-brainer.
Hurricane Sandy was the most devastating storm to hit the Eastern Seaboard. We were lucky in Maine to be spared a direct hit from Sandy. We only got some wind and rain.
But our neighbors to our south were hit hard. Harder than many of us could have ever imagined. And it’s going to take a long time to recover.
When the storm hit, I thought about my fellow bloggers in the New York / New Jersey area. I hoped they were okay when I didn’t see a blog post or a tweet from them after the storm.
It’s funny how small the blogosphere becomes when a natural disaster hits.
I’ve been following Ilene’s posts over at the Fierce Diva Guide to Life. She’s talked about the storm, how it has affected her and those around her. She’s written about how to help and how not to help.
Because I’ve worked in the nonprofit arena accepting donations, I know what it’s like to get a bunch of stuff you don’t need from well meaning people. Though I donated $10 via text to the American Red Cross during a football game a week after the storm, I questioned where I really should be sending my money. I also wondered if people would still be giving a month after the storm. As Ilene noted in a post yesterday,
Help has poured in. But much more help is needed. Much, much more. Your clothing and non perishable food donations helped initially, but rebuilding will be a long term effort – and one that takes money.
So, in addition to my small donation by text to the Red Cross, I made a bigger donation to the United Way Hurricane Sandy Recovery Fund. According to the United Way website, contributions to the Hurricane Sandy Recovery Fund will be used by local United Ways along the Eastern Seaboard to address the near and long-term recovery needs of communities that FEMA has declared disaster areas.
This is also the fund that will be receiving the proceeds from an online bake sale that Ilene and other bloggers are involved with to help Sandy victims rebuild. The bake sale is going on now and is being hosted by Justine at A Half Baked Life. You can bid on yummy baked goods made by some fabulous bloggers up until 11:59pm tonight (11/26).
Did you give this month?
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