I know I mentioned volunteering to help with the California wildfires, possibly with my friend Cat. I wanted to give you all an update on that. I’ve rolled it over and over in my head and weighed the options, and at this point, I have decided that it would not be a good idea for me to go any closer to the fires than I already am. In lieu of volunteering, I have made monetary donations to organizations who are helping out, specifically Noah’s Wish and the Red Cross.
My decision to not go is for many reasons, but the two that come to the forefront are my compromised pulmonary health because of the high amount of particulates in the air (via smoke) and the fact that there are plenty of capable volunteers, who are officially trained for rescue work, already helping out in San Diego, at least for now.
I will reassess whether or not to volunteer for the fire relief efforts when we return from Thailand and will probably help with the clean-up efforts when a lot of the fires have died down and the smoke has lessened. I know from experience that disaster areas need help with clean-up just as much as when the initial frenzy begins.
On another note, some people are comparing this to post-Katrina New Orleans. I have to strongly disagree with that. I was there, in Louisiana, for a long time after the initial influx of volunteers left and I must say that these fires and what happened post-Hurricane Katrina are vastly different. Sure, they are both horrific natural disasters, but that is where the similarities end. In fact, I would venture to say they are on complete opposite ends of the disaster spectrum. (more…)