When The Helpers Don’t Help: A Caution

Most people, 37% of Americans told Rasmussen they are sending cash, want to help those in Haiti recover from the recent earthquake. Sometimes they do – sometimes they think they are but are not.

The peculiar comment from the Obama White House that this is an opportunity too big to waste a thoughtless choice of words. But, they symbolize the hazard and danger of amateurs, the thoughtless and unscrupulous doing more harm than good.

Celebrities are infamous for showing up for photo opportunities and sucking up badly needed resources.  In one case I was personally involved in a Hollywood fop demanded a specific brand of bottled water be provided so she could help. In another tons of outdated and generally worthless blister packed medicines wound up being bulldozed into trenches to clear dock and warehouse space for needed supplies – later it had to be dug up because it was  poluting the water supply. Private planes and luxury yachts clog air and sea ports with gawkers’ of all sorts seeking an ego trip to cluck and claim they were there seeing suffering first hand.. Perhaps my favorite was the rush to ship and unload two locomotives to a country without railroads – eventually they were cut up for scrap having deteriorated into uselessness after years of having blocked valuable dock space. .

I recall seeing that the most valued commodity to arrive were sheets of plastic bubble pack while the suffering often threw aside what it wrapped –it was used as insulating ground cloths. Blanket, and shelter.

I personally had to restrain a costmetic dentist and his psychologist wife who specialized in self-esteem flew a private plane into a disaster area and demanded to help. Their airplane took up valuable airport space, and actually pushed back an arriving globemaster carrying a water purification plant. I confess those boobs were goodhearted if wrongheaded.

Add to those legions of politicians and media flacks that roar around trying to look and sound important.

If you want to help:

1.    contribute to a reputable NGO. By the way look behind some of those charity ratings in-as-much as the leading ones are little more than the charity’s opinion of itself.

2.    Unless specifically requested don’t send things directly, and

3.    for Pete’s sake don’t clog the air and sea ports with a million doses of acne medication,  panty hose or your private plane of boat.

Help. But, use your head.