Fat Tuesday: Katrina Recovery & Donations Progress

The Washington Post reports today that 2/3 of the charitable donations collected for Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath have already been disbursed, yet so much more work remains to be done. I hope some of you are going to Mardi Gras, but reading this brought home for me that I haven't donated to Katrina relief since last year, and that I need to do so again.

Anybody who loves American music owes a debt of the soul to the City Of New Orleans and its people. Regardless of what degree of rebuilding can actually succeed for the future, and no matter who you prefer to donate with, folks along the Gulf Coast, as well as those relocated, still need all of our help in immediate and longer-term ways. The disaster itself was only the beginning, many of the biggest challenges still lie ahead. Even now, the government seems more intent on examining what it did wrong 6 months ago than what it's still not getting done today, and with the Feds' resources diverted to Iraq over the country we live in, and the local governments in the area stretched past the breaking point, it's up to us citizens to maintain the high level of crucial private aid.

There were a couple of prior Katrina threads that haven't been active lately, but I'm sure many of you have been affected personally and/or personally involved in recovery efforts, and hope those with stories we should hear can post some of them here. As for me, I regret I won't be at Mardis Gras; this timely reminder will get out some Crescent City music on my turntable, and my checkbook on the plain old table.