andamu

A crisis far away creates a personal dilemma: one is overwhelmed by the images and stories of suffering and need, eventually blunted by media overload. A theory I scanned recently mentioned that we are unable to relate to any number of people involved in a tragedy greater than 200 - after that we just lose all concept of the scale. I would have thought the number is even lower than that.

If one decides to make a contribution in response to the crisis, the next questions (apart from how much) deal with "How?" "Where?" "To whom?" "What will allow my contribution to have the biggest impact?"

I am very fortunate that the company I work for not only has made a contribution of a million dollars to the relief efforts, is working to make some of its facilities in Houston available and is coordinating volunteer efforts and product distributions from the offices close to the affected areas, but they are also matching employee contributions dollar-for-dollar, allowing us the choice of the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and World Vision.

It is of course a personal decision but if you do decide to give, using a match program through your employer or some other organization will allow your money to make the greatest impact.