Disasters or Charities--Allocating Resources

Since 1998 I have been involved with the Leukemia/Lymphoma TeamInTraining program. They have trained thousands of endurance athletes who have raised over $60,000,000 for research and development in the battle against blood related cancers. I support them by training cyclists in Georgia to complete a century (100 mile bike ride) as each rider raises money to support TNT. I do this because it's a worthwhile cause and it gets folks involved in cycling who may not otherwise be riding. On a more selfish note it gives me a reason to get on my bike several times a week.

Over the years I've seen some of our participants get paralyzed about fund raising in the face of a disaster like 9/11, Katrina, etc. It begs the question how do we allocate resources to help people in need. The answer is--each person has to decide what they are willing to do and who deserves their effort. And there's no shortage of need--as Katrina devastated New Orleans, typhoons rocked Japan and other Asian countries. Today a blackout hit LA--maybe not a disaster on the order of Katrina but for a few hours 2,000,000 citizens were at risk and no doubt economic losses happened. A baby born in NJ to a brain-dead mother died last weekend and the family has over $600,000 in unpaid medical bills. It goes on and on. Shit happens everyday sometimes to lots of folks, others times to individuals. The only constant is that it never ends.

As the people impacted by Katrina begin to rebuild, individual acts of kindness and generosity happen every day. The Leukemia Society committed $1,000,000 to help people in the Gulf Coast area continue receiving treatment. America is a country that has the ability to allocate resources like no other country in the world. We do it on a macro scale and we do it on a micro scale. Debates and arguments abound about where to direct those resources--war on terror, Iraq, Katrina, homeless, uninsured etc.

We as individuals can't help everybody. We can help anyone. We make decisions everyday. Everyone reading this has the ability to contribute to charities, disasters or other causes in some way. I'll never question your choice--even if you decide not to participate.