Rays of Sunshine

This post is not cheerleading, it's not to downplay a single bit of the hell that still exists in New Orleans and along the Gulf coast, and it's not a diversion from asking the tough questions that are going to need to be asked. But frankly we all need a reminder that even as things remain bleak, good things are going on out there in the world.

- Families from less-affected regions in the Gulf states and other areas who knows how far away (I've seen reports from Memphis, Nebraska, and others) are opening their homes to those made refugees by Katrina. The numbers are of course sketchy, but from Baton Rouge to far, far beyond Louisiana's borders, towns and cities across the Southeast have opened their doors in welcome. This website is logging the efforts, but you can find offers of help and home just about anywhere you look.

- The cities of Houston and Austin in Texas will be housing something on the order of 75,000 displaced folks, and multiple other shelters around the state have been opened for many more. Moderate Man has much more on the official and unofficial Texas response. Provision is being made there for placing children in school, and some colleges are offering space in classes for students who were enrolled in LA institutions for fall semester.

- Americans who cannot open their homes have opened their wallets; the Red Cross reported receiving more than $71 million by the end of Wednesday, with the overall relief donations nearing $100 million by Thursday afternoon. The Red Cross' target fundraising goal for this crisis is $130 million.

- Banners, links and donation buttons have popped up on just about every website imaginable. All of us far from the Gulf are trying, as best we can, to do what we can. It's not enough, and I know we all wish we could do more, but we're trying. Glenn Reynolds over at Instapundit posted hundreds of bloggers' suggested charities yesterday, and at Truth Laid Bear, N.Z. is logging more than 1,300 blogs participating in their Blog for Relief Weekend this weekend (including Charging RINO).

- Corporations are responding each to their own area of expertise, and many more than I'll mention are acting (I can't mention them all). Wal-Mart has offered $17 million in donations and much more in merchandise; UnitedHealth pledged $10 million; Kellogg shipped seven truckloads of food. U-Haul's offered storage space, Nissan sent fifty large trucks to help with the recovery efforts. The New York Times reports today "[t]he chief executive of Delta Airlines flew from Atlanta to New Orleans on Wednesday in a 757 stuffed with 20,000 pounds of cots, blankets, food, generators and toilet paper, and returned with 150 stranded employees and passengers." Other corporate monetary donations so far include Chevron at $5 million, DowChemical $3 million. Many others offer matching donations, so if you give and work at a corporation, ask if your employer will match your gift.

- Hundreds if not thousands of volunteers, from firefighters to electricians to plumbers to Red Cross volunteers and beyond are descending on the region to help. Those who are trained to do this are out there doing it, and all the power in the world to them.

There's so much more. This is just the tip of the iceberg. And it's only just begun. I have not even started to digest all the assistance that's coming in from abroad - that, of course, is not to diminish it in the least. It's incredibly important as well. This morning I just wanted to get out as much as I could first thing, to try, even a little bit, to brighten a dark morning at the end of a dark week.