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No Pockets

by Ailish M. Nic Phaidin
Brevard Technical Journal

We've all been affected in some way by Hurricane Charley. He (kinda) crept up on us whilst we were about our business and whilst we maintained a semblance of concerned complaisance. Then he changed course and grew to become a large and almost statewide menace.

The communities, including rural farming communities that have been devastated by Charley, are in dire need of our generosity in the short, medium and long-term. The short-term needs will, in all probability, be dealt with by the various agencies of the state and federal governments, and by non-governmental agencies such as the Red Cross.

Some of their medium-term needs will also be met by those sources. However, just like Hurricane Mitch, which devastated Honduras, the long-term needs of those unfortunate enough to have been in Charley's path may not be met by the above-mentioned sources.

Most Floridians affected will not experience the appalling hardships that were suffered by the people of Honduras, and in particular the horrors suffered in the teeming shanty areas of Tegucigalpa after Mitch. The media, as is its wont, will move on to the latest and greatest item of news and Charley's victims will, mostly, continue to suffer in silence after their ordeal is over - and after the last reporter has left.

We're a great nation for pulling out all the stops in an emergency. We're a great nation for leveraging our combined forces at community level when others are in need. We're a great nation for making good on our promises to help others less fortunate than ourselves. We're a great nation for business; and businesses in the devastated areas of Florida (and there are many) now need our help to begin the long haul back to profitability. If we cannot make the devastated businesses operable, successful and profitable; and reemploy the people who are out there ready to begin again to partner with employers in a productive way, then our state will suffer even longer from the outer bands of economic downturn.

I have a real concern for the rural areas, particularly the agricultural sector of our economy which is so incredibly valuable to our overall economic welfare, development and growth. It's not terribly sexy for journalists to traipse out into the rural areas to discuss devastation. It's far more newsworthy (depending on one's perception) to show cities strewn with debris and homeless families searching amongst the rubble of their former homes to make the point. But, rural communities have suffered in this great tragedy.

You've probably given assistance to your favorite charity already, and that's wonderful. That helps enormously with the short-term aid that is sorely needed by the victims.

What I would like to see is a continuous stream of financial assistance going to the non-governmental agencies, whomever you choose to support, who have the resources - human, experience and technology - to handle the long-term effects of disaster relief. This will, of necessity, involve a percentage of your donated dollar going to pay for personnel - a factor with which many in the U.S. seem to have a major gripe.

But think about it, when all the volunteers have gone back to living their lives after courageously giving of their time, expertise, talents and money to aid in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, the only people left to pick up the remaining pieces are the non-governmental agencies. They should not, in cases such as the disaster wrought by Hurricane Charley, have to scramble for the necessary resources to do what is right and proper to help our businesses, both urban and rural, to reset the clock to success and prosperity. Our nation is built on success and prosperity. Our nation is built on the community spirit of caring for each other in the sense of our founding fathers.

We all have a birthday each year and most of us celebrate it in one way or another. I see many cases where people give expensive, sometimes very expensive, birthday gifts to their spouses, children, parents etc. I hastily add, that is their absolute right.

I would like to suggest that you consider discussing with your family, and employees, that perhaps you do not need yet another expensive piece of jewelry, item of clothing, hi-tech gadget, car, and that at least a portion of that gift could be donated to a non-governmental agency with specific instructions as to where and how it should be spent. And, if you choose to celebrate your birthday in a public way by inviting friends and family, that you suggest to them that they make a donation to your favorite charity with similar instructions as to your desire of how it should be spent.

It would be wonderful if small businesses, the back-bone of our economy, when stricken by disaster had access to 'without-strings'capital to help them bring together the forces they need to access the larger capital intake needed to begin trading again.

If we would all consider donating on an annual basis on our birthdays, then charities would have a continuous income and would be better equipped to deal with disasters in a more comprehensive way. After all, that piece of jewelry, that new trinket cannot be stuffed into a shroud on judgment day. Why? There are no pockets in a shroud.