Small Things Count

Thievery, among other negative activities, is often attributed to Mexicans. Now I believe it.  But only in people who don’t need to be thieves.

Friends from Mexico and/or have relatives recovering from the recent earthquake there have been telling me stories.  They describe people who have lost the very little they had yet helping others, sharing food and supplies.  They also describe what happens when the government receives direct donations of money and goods.  They tell of truckloads of necessities being driven to storehouses to save for festivities for next year’s Presidential election.  They tell of people from the U.S. with supplies being stopped by the Mexican border patrol, who demand that the items be turned over to them for delivery to the government.  They picture those people, who outnumber the border patrol, rushing through the boarder to get those supplies directly to the people.  Money that the government itself collects goes to the city, to get government buildings rebuilt and refurbished before the world focuses on the upcoming election…And their stories go on and on.

My friends are intelligent, caring people, not prone to untruth or exaggeration, so I believe him.

The moral of this story is this: Help the Mexican people, but be sure the help actually gets to the families and individuals who need it. Give to aid organizations you can trust, whose mission is to help the people.  That’s why, in this  instance and in all  disasters, my donations go to the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities,  and the Red Cross.