The Gift that Doesn't Keep on Giving
Like many others, I made a donation to the Asian Tsunami relief efforts. I've been reassured that the Canadian government will match my donation, and I think I might get receipted for both mine and Paul Martin's portion. I want people to keep giving, and I want things to stabilize over there through our gifts, but I'm worried:

- I'm worried that people will only see one cause worthy of charitable donations, and that other charities will suffer in the very near future.

- I'm worried that soon this whole story will dissappear from the newspapers, and that people will forget about the continuing need. Long-term development doesn't sell newspapers like immediate tragedy does.

- I'm worried that after this, people will only be willing to contribute to events of a similar size. It's like after the $30 million lottery jackpot, nothing else is big.

I'm not worried that people are giving too much. I'm not worried that I personally will suffer because of it. I'm worried that the general public will forget the important lessons that the media says we have all learned.

   [ posted by William @ 5:40 PM ]