Charity Begins at Home

One of the biggest things I learned during hurricanes in South Louisiana is that waiting for help should not be what you are hoping for. You should be preparing to survive as long as possible with the possibility of no help ever coming. I always thought that if a massive natural disaster struck, the government would mount an effort to provide aid immediately. Wow, the lessons my wife and I learned during Katrina and Gustav were HUGE. They are some of the things that lead us to become fully prepared.

Don’t get me wrong, although our government failed us (during Katrina), the people of this country mounted a huge effort to send us help that our government was so very slow in providing. Church and secular organizations both provided us with food, ice, water, and other things that made our lives a whole lot easier. The police in our area of the state were awesome in checking up on us and preventing looting while we waited for owners to return to their homes. We only had one negative run in with law enforcement in that time and put it down to the officer being tired and overworked as they were all pulling extra duty.

We, being dog lovers and raising Shih Tzus, had extra dog food on hand so rode around the neighborhood feeding and watering dogs that had been left behind as the owners ran with their families. We let the police know we were doing this and some even offered to help. We even fed a few of the neighborhood cats too.

I guess the gist of what I’m trying to say is that even if you are down and out and at rock bottom when the collapse hits, you should at least try to help others. This does not mean we have to give food that will make our family starve, but if you have a well and people are thirsty? Why not give them some water?

I really welcome comments about this on our original blog post at PamelaFarms.com, (or on twitter @PamelaFarmsMike) and would LOVE to hear your thoughts on charity after a collapse. How far will you go in providing charity? Will you even give out of your stores or water supply? Will it be every man, woman, and child for himself?

I think we will face some awful choices in the times ahead.

Blessings,

Mike