This is how it's supposed to be done: the private sector, and especially churches, getting into the trenches to help in times of need.
From Christian Today:
News about the widespread California wildfire have faded from the headlines, but Christian organisations and churches remain behind to help clean up the overwhelming destruction left by the fires.
Christian relief groups and local churches were some of the first to respond to the wildfires that ravaged southern California last week. Workers prepared meals and drinks for firefighters and evacuated locals. They provided counseling and comfort to distressed victims who fled their homes leaving everything behind except the clothes they had on.
At one point up to a million people were estimated to have been evacuated.
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee’s Disaster Response Services (CRWRC-DRS) said it was holding a house-to-house needs assessment and reconstruction response among 1,800 homes and businesses that were destroyed. The church relief group is in contact with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the American Red Cross and other agencies to plan to assist homeowners.
Government can have a useful role in disasters such as coordinating relief efforts, providing law-and-order services from the National Guard, and our military airlift capability, but the private sector is where the bulk of help can and should come from.
And I guarantee the churches and other private sector agencies will do a MUCH better job of things than the goat-rope we saw during and after the Katrina debacle. Sitting around waiting for the federal government to be-all and do-all is a recipe for even more disaster and suffering.
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