Giving by Bonnie Le Hamilton

Hurricanes, lava flows, mudslides, flash floods, earthquakes, drought, sinkholes, tornadoes, and wildfires. Of these, the only things I haven’t heard of lately are earthquakes, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t happened, because no matter where you look there is some natural disaster happening somewhere.

And I could go into writing mode right now and talk about how writers should take advantage of these things and write them into our stories, but I’ve already done that. I have a story which starts with a whole lot of mudslides, which I know I’ve made a blog post about in the past.

But right now, I’m going to talk about dealing with these in real life.

I know lots of people, myself included, who are dealing with the smoke from these wildfires all over the northwest. I have a Facebook friend who has posted several pictures over the last few weeks about the smoke in her area, and like I said, I’m suffering too. This past Friday they issued a health advisory because of it, telling people with heart conditions or chronic lung issues to stay indoors; needless to say, I wasn’t able to attend church this past weekend. I do have a couple of air filter/purifiers but the smoke was overpowering them Saturday night, by Sunday I was experiencing shortness of breath and chest discomfort, thankfully, it didn’t get any worse than that, but I wasn’t about to exert myself in those conditions.

And at least I haven’t lost anything, like so many others have, and whole towns have been evacuated in some areas.

A cold front moved in Monday, and I’m hoping rain will fall where the fires are; there are several in this part of the state. Except that isn’t everywhere that its needed; there are fires which have been burning for weeks, and may burn for months, especially in California, and I don’t think they’ve gotten any rain.

Too many have lost everything, with still more fires threatening homes and businesses. Around here they’re hoping to at least get containment with a little help from Mother Nature this week.

Anyway, disasters happen, and from what I’ve been seeing they are happening more and more frequently. And more and more often, people need help because they have nothing but the clothes on their back. They have no clean water, no power, no home, no extra clothes, no food; people out there need help, and they need help now.

And I know this is going to be our life for the foreseeable future, this is why the leaders of my church have been telling people to have food storage, and 72-hour kits – to be prepared. Though that isn’t always easy, and sometime those floods and mudslides and such can take even that away. There are some things you can’t plan for.

That’s when charities are needed. I know there are tons of donation drives right after a disaster, but I don’t think that’s enough, especially since I don’t have that much to spare. It’s just a few dollars each month so I’ve started donating to my chosen charity monthly − every little bit helps, it all adds up, plus, I know when any major disaster strikes, my chosen charity will have funds to go help, because I’m not the only one donating regularly. I just hope and pray more people find it in their hearts to find a charity they like and trust (one where the majority of the donations goes to those in need instead of paying the salaries of those running it), and they don’t wait for a call for help, but donate a little each payday.

Think about it, if you get paid weekly, and donate just a dollar per paycheck, that’s $52 a year. Those of you who are barely making it, why not try like a dollar a month? How hard is $12 a year? Not much individually, but what if everyone you know does the same? It starts adding up pretty fast. With enough donations, a charity can all but move mountains. Or maybe they do – they move mountains of donated material.

And I know some of you are thinking it’s better to donate things, but is it really? There’s been a campaign on TV lately to get people to donate money, not water, clothes, or food, because money is faster and easier to ship, they can electronically send the money to their workers closest to the disaster, they then buy the exact supplies needed and transport them only a few miles into the spot, nothing needs to be shipped across continents or across the world. Easier, simpler, better. So, I challenge you to start donating to your favorite charity every payday, like I do.

Happy writing everyone and stay safe out there.