Keep Donating

I have calmed down a touch, and this is good news:

Less than a week after Hurricane Katrina, American giving to help storm victims has surged past the level raised for South Asia tsunami relief in the same period, nearing the $100 million mark, according to charities and experts. But relief groups and federal officials worked to keep the donations flowing from Americans worried about oil prices and the economy.

President Bush yesterday appointed his father, former president George H.W. Bush, and former president Bill Clinton to spearhead fundraising for hurricane victims, in a reprise of their roles as tsunami money-raisers earlier this year. The American Red Cross, which has raised three-quarters of the total, planned a national direct-mail appeal as it welcomed a $5 million donation from Texas energy baron T. Boone Pickens. Corporations gave one-third of the total so far: Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation’s largest retailer, has pledged $17 million to the relief effort, the largest corporate donation yet, with chief executive H. Lee Scott Jr. delivering the commitment by phone to Clinton, officials said.

Keep it up.

And don’t forget the Mercy Corps ad to the left there.

Donate or I will tell Andrei and Joe Albanese you voted Republican and give them your home phone numbers.