Helping Hands

Chris is travelling today to New Orleans, not to see the Hornets in the NBA playoffs, but to lend a helping hand to those whose lives were shattered by Katrina. His law school's spring break project is to provide legal advice to many victims who are still fighting to put their lives back together. Hey Chris, we are proud of you for donating your well-deserved break time for this worthwhile cause.

This is my kitchen pantry. I suppose there is enough food in there to feed the two of us for maybe a month or two if it became necessary.

Last week the Tribune cited a study that said "the Big One" could hit Utah at a whopping 7.4 on the scale. We live practically on top of the Wasatch Fault. Okay, that's scary. Total destruction. I'm not sure what good my measely little pantry would do when I probably couldn't even get to it, and that is assuming that I lived through the shaking! Would my can opener be accessible? Would there be power lines to carry electricity for my stove to boil the water for my mac and cheese to eat with my spoon that would have to be washed in my dishwasher and stored in the drawer that no longer existed? That is assuming that I have water in the pipes at all!

When Katrina hit a few years ago most of us thought about these questions for awhile and hopefully donated funds or supplies to help the millions of Americans who were affected. I talked often about filling those huge, empty water storage tanks that still sit empty in my garage. Occasionally Zeus reminds me of my goal to get that done and an emergency kit ready. I repeatedly tell him I will. Then I don't.

I heard the comment recently "Why should we help 'those people' when they haven't done anything to help themselves?" Well, maybe because they have nowhere to live while cleaning up the toxic debris that used to be their homes. Their government made a mess of recovery efforts (thanks FEMA). Their insurance companies are making every effort to not pay out benefits. The rest of the country forgot about them after the headlines changed.

Thank you Chris for your work and I hope you at least get a chance to get a taste of the reviving culture of New Orleans. I also hope that when the "Big One" hits there will be more like you ready to give assistance, no matter how long it takes.

$1.28