Give monetary support to the American Red Cross and other support organizations.
Go to work today. Resolve to do the best job you can, at whatever you do. Whether or not you think your work is important or not, it is the billions of little contributions from Americans everyday that makes our country great.
Don’t crash the stock market. When financial markets reopen, be calm. Don’t sell off.
Go out of your way to be better to your fellow Americans. Every one of us needs some perspective in our lives. Most of the things that upset us on a daily basis are miniscule, compared to getting the “I love you…goodbye” call from a loved one that many people received yesterday.
In this time of crisis, we need to feel in control of something. Please add your specific actions of what each of us can do.
I totally agree, but i went first thing this morning to give blood and the place that was opened yesterday is closed today. I called Carters Blood Bank, can’t get thru, and now it’s after lunch, I’m doing my best to just concentrate on my everyday routine. Plus, my legs and arms are soar from all the nervous tention I felt yesterday. I’m actually SOAR just from being so tense. I think the phone call stories I saw on the news were by far the most moving I have witnessed. I can’t imagine what those people are going through, although, what I saw was a belief in herionism in those callers and that is some what comforting. This Texan loves NYC and these United States. I called my husband yesterday morning and asked him to hang out our flag and when I got home, I got out my pictures of me on top of the WTC, in 1996. Their gone, but we must press on. We’ll press on.
Luckily, this Dallas, Texan gave blood on Friday, so I’d like to think there’s a little bit of me running through the veins of someone less fortunate in NYC/DC.
Anyone else with some specific action items? Seriously, I want to know what I can do to ensure this nation remains the greatest, most prosperous nation the world has ever known.
Recognize all of your fellow Americans as such. Call your local Muslim organizations just to say that you know how much shit they’re catching from the angry and the ignorant. Assure them that you are dedicated to the preservation of all of your fellow citizens and that you will not allow the terrorists to succeed in their goals by dividing us and dragging us down into the paranoid, hateful little world in which they live.
Talk to the people around you. We all need any tiny bit of strength and wisdom that you are able to share. You need the same form every one around you as well.
Contact aid organizations to find out exactly what they need. Go out and buy it for them rather than giving them money. Skip a step and help out the economy at the same time.
Give them money too.
Take a deep breath and pay close attention to what is going on. America needs your calm, rational resolve and your dedicated efforts to heal and respond to this crisis. Rash action in response to imperfect information is not helpful.
Nurture and develop the crushing rage that you feel so that it can be unleashed in a purifying fire of retribution when the time is right and the target is known. Do not diffuse your wrath by lashing out at parties not responsible.
In this thread Bluesman suggests sending care packages of cookies and such to military personnel. I think this could apply to firefighters and police in NYC/DC as well. If anyone comes up with addresses, please let me know. If I find addresses, I’ll post them here for anyone interested. Never underestimate the power of the home-baked!
Very interesting. I just hopped over to Amazon.com to see about an order. They have set up a very easy way to contibute to the Red Cross using their order processing. And according to their website they have already recieved over $1 million in donations from their customers.
Yeah, I agree Tretiak, that is one cool site. I’m very impressed with Amazon.
To all you wannabe blood donors–cool your jets. The ARC is going to be needing blood donations for a looooong time. Just relax, stay calm, and call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. You’ll get an appointment to give blood soon enough.
Check out the ARC site and all the other charity sites. They have detailed instructions on how you can help. Too many times we want to just rush in and feel like helping; never mind that the “help” may be totally useless (like collection soda can tabs for kidney dialysis). Follow the instructions and THEN you can feel like a hero.
Includes phone numbers to call for physicians & nurses. I heard on the radio of two sisters (RNs) who’d driven in from Cleveland when they first heard the news.
National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster
I’ve seen several news reports that many aid agencies are not able to accept non-monetary donations, especially food donations. They have no room to store it and they have no way of transporting it. Remember that all flights are currently grounded, so no cargo flights are in the air to take donated goods to NYC or DC.
The American Red Cross will only accept in-kind donations if they are:
–shrink-wrapped
–palletized
–and shipped by the donator.
That information comes directly from their website (see links above).
Don’t bother going to the store, buying a couple of blankets, and dropping them off at the local ARC office. You’re wasting their time as much as yours.
GIVE MONEY! Is that so hard? Jeez, you can donate $1 at Amazon.com.
I am taking the suggestions on this thread as things I can do in addition to monetary donations. Sometimes sending money just doesn’t feel like enough, sort of like sending checks at Christmas. While I totally agree that right now cash donations are needed desperately and are crucial to the recovery efforts in NYC and DC, I’m looking for other ways to show my support and help in any way I can.
Beware of spam soliciting “donations.” At least one website responsible for soliciting via spam was shut down by its administrators after Fed investigation.
Set up a donation jar at your work, especially if you work at a retail location. I put a jar on the counter at my Starbucks mid-afternoon, and after the slower half of an already slow day we made $120. Before I even put the sign on the jar a guy asked me “Oh, is that for the Red Cross?” and dropped in a fiver.
We raised over $400 this morning. One lady wrote out a hundred dollar check. Putting a jar on the counter is a simple way to make it easier for people to help, and it lets them know how much everyone cares.
