NO! I won't donate to your Sandy fund!

Originally posted by illuminated0ne
Let me ask you this OP...

You pay taxes that go to the police and fire department right? If you witnessed a major accident while driving somewhere, and there were woman and children trapped inside a vehicle that started on fire, and they needed immediate help, would you not try to help them because you already pay for people to do that?

Good question. Of course I would help rescue them until the experts showed up, but I wouldn't continue to help after the experts arrived, and I wouldn't donate cash through a 3rd or 4th vendor to get back to them in the aftermath.

If I were in NY/NJ, I would happily volunteer my time cleaning up, and digging out, and repairing. I think we should all take personal responsibility to impact the things we can.

Given your same accident scenario, do you think it would be fair to ask someone 1000 miles away to give an extra $5 to help repair the accident victim's car?

I'll donate some birth control, since that seemed to be a major issue. Maybe, if they're lucky, I may donate one of my old cell phones as well. Other then that, they can get some Obama Bucks through FEMA that was confiscated from my paycheck.

reply to post by DrumsRfun


I understand completely what you're saying, and i'd be more inclined to lean towards your view a bit more if the OP hadn't said it so well.

In a society where we are robbed of our money so heavily, we have to think of ourselves sometimes. I try and give as much as i can where i can, but like OP said, the irony lies in the fact that we already technically "pay" for these situations.
Although i will say to the OP that it's not quite the fault of the local businesses asking for money - they're probably in the same boat as you, if not worse - and are asking for sincerity, but at the same time - they should expect that response.

At the end of the day, it is up to the person and how giving he/she feels. While it's great of a person to give to these funds, we should completely understand why people DON'T give to them - rather than casting them out as heartless.
It is not the fault of the people for their decision, rather society for putting us into this predicament.

Everyone's looking out for themselves, why should they be called out for that?

Also, i might add that i come from a slightly more "economically free" nation than the united states... To see how much you guys go through, i don't blame you for not "being able to" (i won't say "not wanting to") give money where money should already be.

Somebody needed to say it, many of us were thinking it.

I got a good idea, DONT BUILD SO CLOSE TO THE DANG WATER! Does anyone ever stop and think: "Hey, we are like 5 ft above sea level, if a moderate tidal wave comes in, there will be flooding." Then the American public has to fork out money to help rebuild these things IN THE EXACT SAME PLACE! It is getting really old, and I think that people should learn from there mistakes every once in a while.

You know what: I am not very good at ranting so I will let good ol' George Carlin take it away:

I'd like to have someone explain to me how come the Federal Reserve can create money out of thin air to give to the banks, to 'loan' back to us at interest, but when a natural disaster occurs, somehow money is in short supply and We the People have to cough up some from our hard-earned, real work was actually involved, supply?

And where is the personal responsibility? I noticed back in 1991 that the weather in the NE was getting rather dicey; after several more years of 'hurricanes with snow' and ice storms lasting for hours and taking down the entire electrical grid of a several county area, power out for days, I got the hell out. It cost me several thousand dollars to move, and I did many years of research to pick a spot I thought would be as benign weather-wise (and as far away from the idiots in D.C.) as possible, but it sure cost a lot less to do that then to stay in a 100 year old house on the beach in Long Island or Staten Island somewhere, enjoying all the glories of living near a major city at sea level, waiting for the inevitable disaster....

Ya know, you rolls the dice and you takes your chances. Just like the people in Bangladesh, who have a lot less in the way of lifestyle choice.

Totally agree Darkhorserider. Whatever happened to taking responsibility for your decisions??? We live far from the coast. Decided it was too risky to live near the ocean or even a river. Yet people build basically on the edge of the water and then cry the blues when they get flooded out. WTF. Your decision, you pay for it.

Originally posted by navy_vet_stg3
I'll donate some birth control, since that seemed to be a major issue. Maybe, if they're lucky, I may donate one of my old cell phones as well. Other then that, they can get some Obama Bucks through FEMA that was confiscated from my paycheck.

What does anything you said have to do with Hurricane Sandy charities?

Written from a warm house with power...lol

I live 80 miles from the shoreline & the town near me has had no power for 12 days & the temperatures dipping into the 30's at night. Elderly & Disabled people staring at the wall in the high school gym cause they have no where else to go.

So we don't want your help - tough guy!

Strangers Raise $56,000 to Help Kids Whose Parents Died in Superstorm Sandy

"Compassionate strangers banded together this week to raise more than $56,000 to help a 19-year-old college student whose parents were killed in Superstorm Sandy, leaving her to raise her three younger siblings on her own.

"My brothers made it out alive but with some bumps and bruises," Zoe wrote. "I finally made it to the hospital in the morning after battling with Hurricane Sandy all night. I was no longer your typical 19-year-old. A moment in time, a second of bad luck, changed my life and my siblings' lives forever."

She immediately decided to drop out of school in order to raise her siblings, but needed help to get by.

"I now have two goals: Caring for and being guardian of my three younger siblings and keeping my family in the house we grew up in," she wrote. "I love them more than they could ever fathom and I am ready and willing to put any amount of weight on my shoulders to lessen the load on theirs."

She was hoping to come up with $5,000 to pay bills and buy groceries while lawyers figure out how to process her parents' estate. Instead, online donors reached deep into their pockets, and raised $56,884.81 for her in a single day."


shine.yahoo.com...

reply to post by darkhorserider


Amen. Want something? Work for it.

reply to post by sprtpilot

Well said. Also, Sandy was neither super, nor even a hurricane

OK - so where do you live numb nutz?

I live in NJ, bulleys for Sandy

I also belong to a FD - we spent several days responding to calls from the storm

Power was out in many locations for days, some neighborhoods still dont have power

How about waiting for hours in gas lines because most of the gas stations did not have power to run their pumps
and those that did were sucked dry

Typicial ignorant loud mouth .............

reply to post by darkhorserider


Honestly, this is hurtful. I live a walk away from JFK and a couple HARD HIT places. These people literally NEED the help. It may not have been Katrina but that still doesn't defeat the fact mother nature beat these poor people out of house and home. I feel like s*** watching these people hurt. To get hit buy something they couldn't control and have a snowstorm on top of that? Some of my closest friends had to find an abandoned house to hide in with their families. I wish I had open doors but my living conditions aren't suied to cater to needy. This is a bit harsh if you ask me.

reply to post by thedman


They don't know what's happening over here. Let them live blissfully. We can't beat sense into them over the internet. :/

reply to post by darkhorserider


Are all these Sandy money donation, things like that ? Ya know , with the church running it or some other part of the community that was affected ?

Or is it stuff like the red cross and that kind of thing ?

Like nothing against the bigger charities or anything but i know that some of them are definitely dodgy, or the money you put it never makes it to where it should go properly .

I know personally i would much rather donate to a communal charity like that church is doing , then a big one .
I think its because you see where your moneys going and who it is helping out , something like that .

reply to post by Arashikage


Dont take it to heart man .

Its just the way of things sadly, No matter how profound the situation is you will allways get some [snip] moron somewhere that will spout arrogant and totally misinformed information like they think they know it all .

Its best to pay no attention to them, i know its one of my pet hates , i cant stand it.

Omega

Originally posted by Omega85

Its best to pay no attention to them, i know its one of my pet hates , i cant stand it.

"ignore it, but read the thread anyway and comment BUT YOU MUST IGNORE IT"

Interesting logic you have there...

also, where's your contribution to this thread? or does your comment come in the form of condolences to someone who didn't necessarily agree with the OP? That should be a new title! "the forum counselor".

Go on! Entertain us! The OP has stated where his tax money is going and his reasoning. You're from australia, and you're acting like he doesn't know where his tax dollars go? I think you're misinformed.

NJ here.
No power for a week.
High-Rise with 200 units.
HUD building for the Elderly and/or Disabled.
The Fire Department and a few other groups brought what food they could.

Praise The Lord for the Emergency Disaster Relief from the Red Cross.
They brought One meal consisting of two dry hockey pucks they called hamburgers one small roll cold green beans a tiny tub of applesauce and a little bottle of water.

Whatever would we have done without them.

My Cats wouldn't eat it.

reply to post by darkhorserider

I have come across "charities" that are so evil as to discard the non-monetary donations they receive!
Of the major organizations, in my opinion, one of the best is The Salvation Army. When I donated to them for Hurricane(s) Katrina and Rita, they kept 0% for overhead because it was an emergency situation. (Normally it would be 10%.) Had I donated to the Red Cross, they would have kept a whopping 40%!
I can't believe the "lock" The Red Cross has had on "Hurricane/Superstorm" Sandy. The concert, the network "Day of Giving",etc. I saw one celebrity give them $50K on Thursday, another just donated $5 Million to the Red Cross. They have such incredible PR, everyone sees when a local fire occurs, they are there to provide a hotel room for the victims for 3 days, and when that 72 hours is up the news reporters have moved on to the more recent events.
I especially suggest people donate to local charities they know, where the money is not likely to be squandered.

reply to post by Arashikage


reply to post by BABYBULL24


reply to post by DENBY


I'm not wishing any ill will or suffering on the people there without power, or homes, or with injured or dead loved ones. I'm not saying they deserved, it or anything like that. I'm just saying we already paid in advance for insurance and planners and equipment and mitigation projects disaster relief for this very event. If there is still a need for donations and money in the aftermath, and if there is not a warehouse full of water and blankets and medicine, and generators, and if the utility companies don't have spare parts, and plans for how to best temporarily supply power, then someone needs to be in jail, because we paid for it, so where is it at?

Yes, I'm currently in a warm house, but I put in the OP that I have been through a couple of major disasters, and I've driven in and volunteered help at a couple of other major disasters. If I were close enough to do any good, my home would be open, and my feet would be on the ground doing every thing I could.

My issue is with the MONEY! This is precisely why we have FEMA, and Insurance companies, and Emergency Planners, and such. We pay for it day by day by day, so where is the money? Do the insurance companies just take our premiums and not expect to ever pay back? Do the emergency planners just take our money and buy toys, and drill, and conduct meetings, and upgrade their headquarters, but never actually prep and hoard and plan for the disaster?

If a major, Cat 5+ hurricane crashes into Jacksonville, Florida tomorrow, there is no reason in the world the authorities, utility companies, and major corporations should blink an eye at it. They know it will inevitably happen, they employ experts to plan for it, a portion of every dollar they make and/or spend is dedicated towards it, so when it does happen, there is no reason they should look awestruck and beg the common folks for relief. It's ridiculous.

reply to post by BABYBULL24


And the video is more of the propoganda that pisses me off. Yes, stuff got tore up. Yes, people got hurt and even killed. I am very sorry for those people. You know what, the same day as Sandy, even higher numbers of people died in car wrecks, and drug overdoses, and medical mistakes, and complications from obesity. Lots, lots more! All preventable by the way.

I've dug through rubble after 2 tornadoes, and I've dug through my burned out house after I got out of the burn unit a few weeks later. Here is how the old people staring at the walls in the gym really should be dealing with it. Instead of being dumbstruck and in disbelief, how about a little reflection on what is really important.

People have gone through worse, This Ain't Nothin'.