The Big Easy Comes Back

Ok, ok, I know I've been MIA lately, and I'm sorry. Life, etc.

Today is a day of reflection for people all over the world, and I don't have many original thoughts to add. Besides, some people have already said it better. Instead, I'd like to take a moment to think about something else: the ongoing effort to rebuild New Orleans.

All Day Buffet has compiled a list of 100 great projects currently going on in the Crescent City. The list is broken down by category for easy skimming, and is full of great projects that are revitalizing New Orleans right this very moment. The folks at ADB were shooting for 1,000,000 page views by August 29th, 2008. I have no idea if they made it or not, but wanted to give them a belated boost.

I drove through New Orleans for the first time in my life in September of 2006. Naively, I thought the city would be more or less rebuilt. I was wrong. Sure, the Convention Center was nice and shiny. The French Quarter looked like I expected it to. But once you got outside of the tourist spots, another picture emerged. High water lines were still visible. There was a noticeable stench in the air.

Hurricane Katrina was a disaster on a scale largely unseen in this country. And three years later, with our quick news cycles and our general national complacency, it's easy to forget what happened. But, without even mentioning the parade of hurricanes that has been working its way through the southeastern United States for the past few weeks, I think it is important to stop and reflect upon the lessons we (hopefully) learned.

So, please, take a few minutes out of your day and look at All Day Buffet's list. And if you see a cause that's interesting, or exciting, or just plain cool, give them a hand. It's not hard to get involved.

Rocking the Interwebs

Facebook. Twitter. YouTube. Flickr. Web 2.0 is full of sites and technologies designed to let people share virtually any part of themselves they choose, their hobbies, their friends, their interests, and their passions. But what about people's charitable interests?

Check out DigiActive, a blog dedicated to helping define the role of technology in philanthropic causes. The site features plenty of causes and calls to action, but also profiles different uses for social media to support causes that matter.

That last idea is what makes DigiActive such an important site. It's one thing to join the facebook group of a cause you care about - heck, even I do that - but who would think to use Twitter to increase attendance at an Austin blood drive?

It's almost trite to say at this point, but the internet provides a tremendous opportunity to reach people. I even still play fantasy sports against friends and family on the other side of the country. So why not use that opportunity to accomplish something bigger? Case in point, Blog Action Day 2008, coming up on October 15:


Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

So there you go. Go forth, minions, and improve the world.

Muchas gracias: The blog over at www.idealist.org

Who has time to volunteer, anway?

It's a busy world out there, no doubt. With jobs, friends, families, and countless other obligations, it's easy for people to feel like they simply don't have time. And charitable activities are one of the first things to fall by the wayside.

Enter Charity Guide, a great resource for good deeds that can be done in fifteen minutes, in a few hours, or even while on vacation. Some of it seems highly unlikely - are we really going to stop human rights abuses by signing up for some mailing lists? - but some of it also looks really cool. I don't think I'm the only one who would enjoy building a school while vacationing in Belize.