What Can I Do?

What can I do?
Watching the devastation in NO, I sit here & I feel powerless. Where do you even start with this kind of destruction? There are so many things that need to be done. Death tolls climb and things are just getting worse--not just the people who are now homeless, but like the animals at the zoo...or the sealife from the aquarium. Every time you turn around, there's another facet we hadn't thought of yet. There is mass devastation...and each individual's personal hell. So many questions left to find answers to. I watched the news this morning & listened to the reporter grill the poor mayor of New Orleans about what will he do now for his city? Why didn't he have a plan in place a long time ago? What I see is a man who is broken, trying to be strong, trying to be a leader while he watches the city he loves & is responsible for just become more & more tragic. He has lost too. His position has not made him exempt from Mother Nature's wrath. I want to shake the reporter & ask her why she isn't asking "what can WE do?", not criticizing this man who has SO much resting on his shoulders. Who could have known? You see the predictions on paper, you make a plan for an emergency, but who can play these scenarios out in even their worst nightmares? Plans look good on paper but implementing them in the middle of so very much loss is not so simple. There are a million things you could never plan for. Mother Nature is just too unpredictable. You can't possibly plan for every potential situation. You just can't. So we all sit here thinking: what can be done? What can I really do? My thoughts this morning keep going back to one quote: "The journey of a thousand miles start with a single step". Maybe my dollar or your dollar won't make a noticeable difference, but every bit DOES help. Add us up & we CAN make a difference! We can & we will! I am reminded of the workplace inspirational poster that says: "Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, but look what they can do when they stick together". My one small step? At the News & Observer, along with bins located throughout the building accepting donations of food, water, paper products and cleaning supplies, we are taking up a collection & combining it with a large company contribution & we are making a donation to the American Red Cross. Even if we can only help 20 people for one day, those will be 20 children that have a meal in their hungry tummies...and 20 parents who will be grateful that their child has been provided for--because in times like these, you don't think about tomorrow or next week or next month, you don't think about anything more than your child's next meal, your next breath. Bit by bit, one tiny step at a time... we can ALL make a difference!