I will be honest and say that I was a little worried about the question I decided to ask Thursday night at the first day of Floodstock 2008 for this week’s On The Street. The plan was to ask “What have you done to help with flood recovery?” and I was nervous that I’d get a lot of guilty faces and silence in response. What if no one I talked to had done anything to help?
Turns out I shouldn’t have worried. All but one person I talked to had done something to help out flooded homeowners and business owners. Whether it was donate money or items or time, they’d all reached out to there fellow Cedar Rapids residents and helped at this dire time in our city’s history. I was very impressed by everyone’s efforts. I was also impressed by how many of them had volunteered through their place of business. How very cool that companies would release their employees for a day or more to go help flood victims. Maybe not good for the bottom line at first blush. But definitely a way to build company moral and spirit and give employees and the company more of a vested interest in their community.
I’m embarassed to say, though, that if this question had been flipped back on me I wouldn’t have had much to say. I haven’t helped anyone muck out their basement. I haven’t donated clothes. I haven’t even written a check. Sure we donated some food and we thought about going through our closets. But, did we get around to it? No. I’m ashamed of that. Because this is one case where the thought doesn’t really count for much.
We are in the process of going through our son’s toys with him. And I am proud to say that even without our example, he decided on his own to donate them after seeing toys piled on the sidewalk along First Avenue. After much contemplation over a couple of hours, he announced that he’d like to give some toys to other little boys and girls who lost theirs in the ‘big water.’
I think I should take a cue from everyone I spoke with and my four year old and get out and do something.
