Sadness and strength in difficult times

To my tuning friends and colleagues,

I would normally post this to metatuning, but it will be the one
off-topic post I'm willing to take heat for, in the effort to reach
the largest part of our community. I've been here for over 5 years,
and have come to know many of you; a good number of you live where
the worst of human nature has evidenced itself.

It is very difficult to be distant and removed from the terrible
times that people are going through in New York (and Washington, for
that matter). If it were in my home town, I'd be down there,
physically helping. The only obvious thing that I have been able to
do is pray.

But beyond that, disasters - natural and human-made - not only bring
the need for resources but for the funds that can buy those
resources. Someone mentioned Amazon.com to me on Weds, and I took a
look. They had set up one of their own PayPage accounts to contribute
to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. When I saw it on Weds
morn, there was around $400,000.00 donated. By tonight, over 100,000
people had contributed nearly $4,000,000.00. It won't bring back
lives lost, but may help those still in need.

PayPage Details:
----------------
Title: Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund
Owner: Jonathan Leblang
Description: All of us at Amazon.com are deeply saddened by the
recent tragedies in New York City, Washington, D.C., and southwestern
Pennsylvania, and we extend our sympathies and condolences to those
affected. You can support relief efforts by making a donation to the
American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. You can contribute from $1
to $100--any donation is greatly appreciated. ALL donated money will
go to the Red Cross to help victims of this and other tragedies--
Amazon.com is waiving its usual fees.

To take a look at this PayPage, go to:
http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/my-pay-page/PKAXFNQH7EKCX

Another online clearing-house, if you would like a variety of
national and local agencies to contribute to, is the front page of
Helping.Org:

http://www.helping.org/index.adp

Thanks for tolerating this non-tuning message; to all those
affected, you are in my deepest thoughts and prayers.

Jon

--- In tuning@y..., "Jon Szanto" <JSZANTO@A...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_28165.html#28165

> To my tuning friends and colleagues,
>

John has an excellent suggestion here to contribute to the Amazon.com
Red Cross relief effort.

It's right on their main page. It was suggested to me and I, also,
made a contribution...

It's not so easy just to go down physically and volunteer. The area
is closed off, and only authorized people can go there. Not *every*
volunteer is accepted.

The best thing is for us to *try* to return to our jobs and resume as
normal activities as possible unless, of course, something else
happens...

Joe

__________ ________ _____
Joseph Pehrson