A Duty of Christian Charity

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Today is Blog Relief Day. I had already asked Christians to give and provided a link to the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army site says that a donation of $100 will feed a family of four for two days, and provide them with additional practial assistance. Our family will be giving to that charity today. My law firm, to its great credit, has graciously agreed to match all employee contributions. The Instapundit has probably the most comprehensive list of charitable efforts intended to help the victims of Katrina.

The need is almost beyond imagining. Over 400,000 people have evacuated. Some are staying with friends and families. Others are staying in hotels. But New Orleans will likely not be livable for many months. And refugees now staying in hotels are going to run out of money. They have no jobs anymore. No paychecks. No resources other than what they have in their bank accounts. Many of those people, therefore, are going to end up in refugee centers and need daily meals, clothes, medical treatment, and much more. On top of that, many thousands are still in refugee gathering points in and just outside of New Orleans. They need on the spot assistance and will need future, long-term help.

I am proud of my home state of Texas for opening its doors to the refugees from New Orleans. I am just as proud of my home city of Houston, for opening of the Astrodome to evacuees. But that is just a place to stay. It is charities, who rely on our giving, who will be providing the food and clothing for the thousands of people who will be living there for a long time.

So please give. As I noted in an article on the Cadre site, Christians and Jews are in large part responsible for the very notion of unselfish charity. It is one of our greatest contributions to humanity. Let us live up to our ideals and our history. I am not the biggest fan of the slogan, "What Would Jesus Do?" But in this case I think the answer is clear cut.

UPDATE: Check out Truthlaidbear to see the results of the Blog Relief Day, especially this page, which allows you to see who is giving how much to what. It also lists all the participating blogs, including CADRE Comments, and lets you log your contribution. Please do log your contribution (it allows you to do so anonymously) so we can gaugne the success of this kind of effort.

UPDATE2:Chuck Simmins is logging what American Companies are doing for the victims of Katrina. Many are being very generous. A number of companies, like my own law firm, are matching employee contributions.

UPDATE3:The State of Texas' efforts deserve special notice. The latest is here.

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