Relief Efforts

My friend Andy Carvin is organizing International Blogging for Disaster Relief Day today, encouraging bloggers around the world to link to and discuss disaster relief efforts, not just on the US gulf coast, but around the world: efforts to rebuild houses in tsunami-affected areas, to shelter African immigrants in Paris who lost their homes in apartment fires, to help Iraqi families who lost loved ones in Wednesday’s tragic events. He’s asking as many people as possible to address these issues and so that Technorati can collect and index them.

My friend Brendan Greeley is organizing a small, but very important, relief effort in Lake Providence, Louisiana. One of the poorest communities in the United States, Lake Providence is being overwhelmed by refugees from New Orleans. Brendan and others are raising money to help feed and shelter these refugees and transfer them to shelters in Monroe, Louisiana. Brendan has a personal connection to the area and will be heading down this weekend, bringing funds he’s able to collect via PayPal – I’ve just supported the cause and know that Brendan will get funds to people who need them. To support the effort, go here and click the donate button on the upper right of the page. (Thanks, JYoung, for asking me to clarify where to donate…)

Update: Friend Hanne Blank is raising money for hurricane relief by selling back copies of her books – primarily collections of erotica. She’s calling the effort “Sexual Healing”, and will be donating the receipts to the Red Cross. They’re going fast, so act now if you want some erotica with your relief efforts.