It's a 4 Ring Circus!: charity amidst disaster

I was thinking about what Misty said regarding the devastating wildfire that her family endured last week. I realized that my thoughts would be way too long for a "comment," it would take a post on my blog to cover it. :-)

The best thing about being prepared for emergencies is that if you are not the one in line to receive help, then that frees you up to be the one who can help others. It is so wonderful that someone who was probably on their way to safety themselves was able to stop by Misty's family's home and take a few minutes to use the available hoses and water the area enough to prevent their home from being lost. That simple act of charity will have a profound impact on her family's life.

When I think back to emergencies that I have witnessed or experienced, I am haunted by pictures of mothers with young babies during the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, babies wearing the same diaper for days and drinking from bottles of sports drinks because that was all that they could come up with. I remember preparing for my extended family to stay with us during Hurricane Rita. The stores here sold out of everything useful within hours, but when my stepfather left to go pick up my brother's stranded family, we were able to come up with enough portable/lunchbox kind of food to put together several quick bags of food that were a godsend to those who received it.

When you consider your preparations, please also remember to prepare to be charitable. I know that if something happened and we (as a community) were forced to eat whatever was in our house, I would not be able to watch our neighbor's kids starve while mine had enough to eat, even if that means that my family runs out of food a day sooner.

Here are a few simple ideas to consider:

Even though I no longer have children who wear diapers, I still receive diaper samples in the mail. Instead of tossing them in the trash, I toss them in my 72 hour kit. They don't take up much room and could be a wonderful blessing to someone else I encounter in an emergency situation.
Even though I no longer have a young child who rides in a sling, I have my very compact fabric sling in my 72 hour kit in case someone else with tired arms needs to use it.
Don't buy all of your food storage in bulk. Also purchase the small bags of rice or beans so that you could have a handy way to help out a neighbor in a crisis.

You get the idea. We all know how good it feels to be able to help someone else, so don't forget to plan for charity!