By HENRY FREDERICKNEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Sera and I gave five bucks to the cashier at the Winn-Dixie when we did some grocery shopping Saturday for a relief fund set up by the grocery store at the NSB Regional Shopping Center on State Road 44.
It wasn't much, but every penny does add up. Should we run across more charity requests for Haiti, I'm sure we'll give again. The human suffering there is so immense with the devastation of collapsed buildings, including schools, hospitals, and churches with hundreds of thousands killed and mass graves.
Sera and I were inspired by the Musings community column segment written by Edgewater resident Darlene Vann, who has been with us at Headline Surfer since day one.
Vann gave $5 and suggested it didn't matter how little or how much we give, as long as we give something. If everyone did that, the suffering would be eased. More money would be available to fly in doctors and medicine, food and water, and even transport of parentless children to new families in the United States. We are the leader of the world when it comes to helping other countries, not only because of our military might or economic strength but also because of our entrepreneurial spirit and sense of giving. Something we've done time and again over the last century, especially.
The media coverage has been intense and the images heartbreaking, but there is a lot of good happening.
Each one of us can make a difference, especially when we have local voices of human conscience like Darlene Vann, with a can-do attitude, which is why her blog is aptly named "Musings."