Thinking Global and Local

While I get ready to watch the Hope for Haiti Now earthquake telethon this evening, I'm really moved by another example of American generosity. Proud is probably an understatement about what I felt for a local fundraising effort, Songs for Haiti, here in Portland, Oregon that occurred last night when local musicians raised $150,000 in a more or less impromptu benefit concert.

The pictures and video of people suffering in Haiti have torn me up (particularly those images of people getting sutured with no anesthetic or a mother falling apart hearing her child's limb has to be amputated), and I've donated money to the effort as well, so I'm definitely not one of those people who automatically say we need to attend to our own first and foremost. As one of the world's leaders, we do have to think globally, and we do need to care for those in dire need around the world and let them know they've not been forsaken, just as President Obama said, and I think Haiti is starting to realize that now.

Over the past few days, I've been brought back from the global to the local by the fact that the Assistance League of Portland Children's Dental Clinic, a facility that provides dental care to low-income children, may shut down due to lack of funding. It's a common enough story these days, but just as I've given and thought about Haiti the last week, I'm going to find a way to donate to the Children's Dental Clinic and support their efforts to regroup and get new funding. The services they provide are essential to children's health, but also to their self esteem. I do plan to contact Dr. Kurt Ferre, board president of Assistance League of Portland, to see how to donate money. I will keep you posted if I find a way to donate money, and I hope you will find a way to help all our neighbors locally and globally.