[patm099]

Having just returned from helping prepare and serve meals to well over 675 people and trying to help care for over 165 children who were displaced due to Hurricane Katrina, this is a subject very close to me. Talking to some of the people at the shelter is one of the most heart breaking things I have ever done. One was a four year old little boy who said his house was broken. He said "It broke when the tornado (hurricane) blew off the roof and all our stuff flew away. And my daddy is in heaven with my teddy bear".

Pointing fingers is not the answer. We need to handle the problems associated with all the displaced Americans (not refugees). They are tired, hungry, dazed, confused and homeless. They are asking who is to blame. They are asking what am I going to do? Where am I going to go? How can I find out if my mother, father, brother (etc) is alive and where they are? How will I support my family? Are there any jobs here?

Is Mayor Nagin to blame for the New Orleans fiasco? YES Is Govenor Blanco to blame? YOU BETCHA. Is the federal government to blame for waiting so long to act? OF COURSE! New Orleans was not the only area affected although they suffered the worst outcome after Katrina left when the levees broke. No one in their wildest dreams could have predicted the devastation that occured along the Gulf Coast but we were warned that it would be catastrophic. Those with the means evacuated and most of them are homeless. But what needs to be addressed is how to feed, clothe, get medical attention and house everyone in need. There will be plenty of time for figuring out later what went wrong and try to correct it so it doesn't happen again, but we have people who need our help now. If we just sit back and have that "somebody ought help those people"attitude SHAME ON US. It makes us no better and certainly just as bad as the powers that should have been taking care of this. We are the SOMEBODIES of the world and, as such, need to step up to the plate and pitch in with all our might. Supplies are in demand but cash is in even shorter supply.

The effect of this natural disaster will be felt long after the memories begin to fade and I, for one, want to know that I contributed to the solution and not the problem.