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The Armies of Compassion
Rich Galen Friday September 2, 2005
This is what we do best, as Americans. We see a need and we do something about it. Decade after decade after decade, anywhere on the planet.
Earlier this year hundreds of millions of donated American dollars poured into cities, towns, and villages in the Indian Ocean basin following the Tsunami of December 2004. As you may remember I - along with colleague Ginny Wolfe - went there and we were shocked at the level of devastation.
More importantly, Mullings readers donated an astonishing $47,538 to the Tsunami relief effort in January of this year to help, largely, the orphaned children of India and Sri Lanka.
Now comes Hurricane Katrina. The level of ruin is almost beyond comprehension from a storm which was so large it covered the entire Caribbean basin, and was so powerful that at 902 millibars it was one of the strongest on record before it came ashore.
Today was supposed to be the first day of the Fall Subscription Drive. I was going to spend the next 30 days attempting to get you to part with $25 to keep Mullings going.
That can wait.
I will be asking you, instead, to donate that $25 to a charity. The charity which I would like you to consider will be one which volunteer firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and rescue services will receive the benefits.
These are the men and women who are likely - having already worked a full day at their real jobs - who show up at an accident - home, auto, or industrial - or a fire, to give aid and comfort to a victim.
Nearly three out of every four firefighters in the United States is a volunteer. Of the 30,000 or so fire departments in the country, only about 2,000 have no volunteer component.
These volunteer firefighters are the men and women who run INTO burning buildings. Too often, they don't come out. Of the 107 firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2004, 76 were volunteers.
We know how this will work: Once the immediacy of the moment passes, the cable nets will pull their camera crews and reporters out, and the job of going block-by-block looking for victims, and hazards to health and safety will largely fall to volunteers and many of those volunteers will be trained volunteer firefighters, EMTs, members of rescue teams.
Not all of those volunteers will be salaried employees - whose companies will continue to pay them as part of their commitment to helping the victims of Katrina. Many, will be hourly workers who get paid only when they actually work. When they are helping victims in Louisiana or Mississippi or Alabama, they don't make a dime.
They kiss the kids, hug the spouse, pack their equipment, jump in a truck and go.
These are many of the same people who went to went to Northern California after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, and went to Oklahoma City after the bombing there in 1995; and went to lower Manhattan and whom I saw with my own eyes at the Pentagon after 9/11.
On Wednesday in his Rose Garden speech, President George W. Bush spoke of "the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army and the Catholic Charities, and all other members of the armies of compassion."
Volunteer firefighters, EMTs and rescue workers are the foot soldiers in the Army of Compassion and I want them to know how much they mean to us.
Because this came to me in a vision, I have not yet identified the appropriate vessel for these donations, but I wanted you to have your credit card at the ready so on Monday you will be able to help out.
The Mullings Director of Standards & Practices and I will donate the first $1,000 to this undertaking.
I hope you'll join us.
If you are a volunteer firefighter, you're already donating enough.
On the Secret Decoder Ring page today: The official FEMA call for help from the nations' Fire Departments, the explanation of a millibar when it comes to hurricanes; a wistful Mullfoto and Catchy Caption of the Day.
--END --
Copyright © 2005 Richard A. Galen
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