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We're only in May, but this year has already been declared the deadliest year of tornadoes in over half a century.
Last month, Alabama was flattened when over 100 tornadoes hit on the same day. At the time, I looked into donating to the relief efforts. By preference, I give disaster relief donations to something like The American Jewish World Service or The Jewish Coalition For Disaster Relief. The money buys just as much help and supplies, but it also serves as a reminder that Jewish people care, too. (And that help doesn't have to come from a cross. I know that the Red Cross is not religious in nature, but the link still exists - consciously or otherwise - in many minds.) They had whole pages set up for Japan and Haiti, but nothing for the more local natural disaster. So I went to the Red Cross, because they do good work and they have the most structure in place. But they had nothing about the tornadoes on their page, either.
Really, after the initial shock, the story seemed to get very little in the way of national attention. Still, people did donate money, goods, and time. Here on LJ, fans set up![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
helpthesouth, a community of auctions to raise funds for various local relief efforts.
Today, one major tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri. The Red Cross has a story about it featured on their front page. It's been all over the news.
Clearly, unquestionably, the people of Missouri need help. And it's important to spread the word about that. But I don't understand why Alabama didn't get similar attention.
And here's the thing.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jojo_da_crow tells me that people in AL are donating supplies to MS relief, driving them halfway across the country themselves, even as they and their families continue to struggle to put their own lives back together.
At the same time, Toomers For Tuscaloosa, a volunteer group of Alabama university students, is filling a truck with supplies to bring to people who are still, over three weeks later, cut off from emergency relief.
The point is that people in both places still need help. If you can, please do.
Last month, Alabama was flattened when over 100 tornadoes hit on the same day. At the time, I looked into donating to the relief efforts. By preference, I give disaster relief donations to something like The American Jewish World Service or The Jewish Coalition For Disaster Relief. The money buys just as much help and supplies, but it also serves as a reminder that Jewish people care, too. (And that help doesn't have to come from a cross. I know that the Red Cross is not religious in nature, but the link still exists - consciously or otherwise - in many minds.) They had whole pages set up for Japan and Haiti, but nothing for the more local natural disaster. So I went to the Red Cross, because they do good work and they have the most structure in place. But they had nothing about the tornadoes on their page, either.
Really, after the initial shock, the story seemed to get very little in the way of national attention. Still, people did donate money, goods, and time. Here on LJ, fans set up
helpthesouth, a community of auctions to raise funds for various local relief efforts.Today, one major tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri. The Red Cross has a story about it featured on their front page. It's been all over the news.
Clearly, unquestionably, the people of Missouri need help. And it's important to spread the word about that. But I don't understand why Alabama didn't get similar attention.
And here's the thing.
jojo_da_crow tells me that people in AL are donating supplies to MS relief, driving them halfway across the country themselves, even as they and their families continue to struggle to put their own lives back together. At the same time, Toomers For Tuscaloosa, a volunteer group of Alabama university students, is filling a truck with supplies to bring to people who are still, over three weeks later, cut off from emergency relief.
The point is that people in both places still need help. If you can, please do.