Wow! Hurricane Katrina IS the current event. I can tell you, having gone through Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 as Karry and I vacationed in Cozumel, it is an amazing thing to see 10 foot by 10 foot blocks of concrete flying through the air and once beautiful areas decimated in just one night.
California is not that far away from a similar situation the minute a 9.0 plus quake rocks us. Natural disasters continue to exhibit the power of nature and how small we really are when she decides to unleash her wrath.
Watching the photos and film of these uprooted homeless individuals must make all of us realize how truly lucky we are to have the quality of life that we enjoy.
Some of you may be asking: What can each of us do? How much is too little? How do I know that my donation will actually go to the victims?
I think each of us can give something. Anything. One dollar. Five dollars. One hundred dollars. I don’t think anything is too little. Over 250 million dollars have been raised to date in a short time with the help of children donating their piggy banks and the wealthy donating millions of dollars.
My daughter and her friends spent Saturday selling lemonade and home-made cookies. It was great to see someone pay $25 for a cookie. They raised nearly $125 and intend to donate it to the American Red Cross.
The American Red Cross is a legitimate organization dedicated to mobilizing and helping those in need during a crisis, and I believe we can be certain that a significant portion of our donated dollars will be put to use in helping those who need it most. In addition, we may designate how we want our funds to be utilized.
Plaskoff Construction is dedicated to its local community as well as the national community. For this reason, we have opened the Plaskoff Construction Katrina Relief Fund. Our company will start the fund with a donation of $1,000 and we will match dollar for dollar each and every donation that our employees make to our fund. The fund will be closed at the end of September and the monies will be donated to the American Red Cross for use towards the Katrina Relief Effort.
I urge you to participate in your own way whether it be the United Way, the Red Cross or any way you see fit. You never know when you might be on the receiving end of need.
Be well and be safe.
Matt
