Katrina Flood Aid: "It's what we do"

"Hurricane Katrina has forced millions of people to evacuate -- many without their pets," says Marie Belew Wheatley, president and CEO of the American Humane Association. "And our Animal Emergency Services is on the ground, ready to help reunite families, one pet at a time." Animal Emergency Services is working closely with other groups, including our own charity of choice -- the Animal Rescue League of Boston and the Veterinary Medical Assistance Team (VMAT), to coordinate the most effective response and ensure the safety of the largest number of animals possible. Check out American Humane Association release for details. More news on Hurricane Katrina animal rescue efforts.

"It's who we are. It's what we do. It's part of our history," writes Lores Rizkalla of Just a  Woman [via Hugh Hewitt] in a rousing call to our fellow citizens to pitch in:

When other nations are hit with calamity, whether it be terrorism or a natural disaster, it is the United States that comes to the rescue. The  United States gave more than all other nations combined to the Tsunami relief efforts in Southeast Asia last December.

After the September 11 attacks, the Red Cross alone received over one billion dollars worth of contributions. The vast majority of funds came from individual Americans committed to helping our own. Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that "America is great because America is good." This generosity is a reflection of that goodness.

And now, writes New Zealand Bear of TTLB, "The day is here, and I would ask bloggers everyone to join in today and encourage your readers to give, give, and give some more to the Katrina relief charity of your choice":

And yes, I am trying to encourage some friendly competition here. Tomorrow [Thursday] morning I will be publishing "leader boards" which show which charities are receiving the most donations, and which bloggers have been most successful in encouraging their readers to donate. So get your readership fired up!

Reporting for duty, sir.  Once you make a donation to the charity of your choice, you can log in your contribution at TTLB's "Add Your Contribution" page so it can be entered in to the Ecosystem database. As our regular readers know, we are recommending Animal Rescue League of Boston.

In addition to the "leader boards," TTLB has added another competitive feature to the "Blog for Relief Day" page:

See who is supporting this charity.

Besides ourselves, we note early this morning already two bloggers new on our cyberhorizon are promoting this blog's chosen charity, Animal Rescue League of Boston, blogged here Tuesday.

JT of Old Controller, who describes himself as a "retired AF officer, wannabe writer. We have five dogs and two cats, and feed every squirrel and bird within ten miles."

Mark of South Puget Sound Libertarian, among other things a vet of the Army Medical Corps during the Vietnam war, who writes "Having been frightened and depressed by the seemingly irresistible march of big government, I first decided simply to avoid it all. But now I have re-engaged and started this web log. I'm having fun . . . so far.

Thank you, gentlemen, and thanks again to blogpal Teresa of Technicalities for her boundless moral support to all creatures great and small, including angels. Soldiers' Angels, that is, whose Operation Katrina Soldiers Relief Fund is another most worthy project. We'll be posting more names of ARL Boston supporters here as they come in, as well as pictures and reports from the front from the ARL Boston team as they become available.

Good news:  The ever unflappable InstaPundit has been overwhelmed with the response to his request for links to everyone's charities and posts:

SECOND INSTALLMENT: Okay, I'm totally overwhelmed with "Katrina Flood Aid" emails -- there are hundreds and hundreds. I'm going to keep posting as the day goes on, but no fancy alphabetical order or clever comments. And I'm not repeatedly linking to the same charities; I'll just mention 'em. There are just too many!

Technorati tags: Flood aid, Hurricane Katrina.

Update:  Thanks to Kitty of Kitty Litter for linking our original ARL Boston post: "I can't even think of what would happen to our beloved pets in a flood of this magnitude." Check out what happened to a herd of Suidae in this photo flashback from Hurricane Floyd flooding in 1999, linked by Kitty at Byrd Droppings.

Comments

[Lores Rizkalla]

Sissy,
Thanks for visiting my blog and posting it here. I'm honored! :)

Great work here!

[Sissy Willis]

You're very welcome, Lores, and thanks for the nice words.

[Teresa]

Thanks for the linky luv! The kitties and puppies will be getting something from me in a little bit. I just have to go find the credit card... LOL.

[Mark]

Hi,

I hope ARL was able to help lots of critters. Best wishes.