Hi all,
I'm new here. However, I've been impressed with the compassion shown by various members of the community, as well as appalled at some of the situations written about by other members.
bevomax, vetwire, MoT, and annie em are the diarists I've personally read, and I'm sure you all are familiar with others. When Odysseus invited me to participate in this, I was pleased. When I asked him a question and he suggested I write a diary, I realized get in or get out.
So if I don't delete all this by accident, I'd like to put forward the following as a start.
Yesterday or Monday lightbulb did a diary on voter registration, one of the obstacles to which was a need for birth certificates. Many people don't live in their birth state anymore, which means fees, telephone calls and/or letters. One of the commenters on that diary suggested having a fund solely for the purpose of paying those fees. Is that within our scope?
What is our scope?
I know dhonig wrote a diary advocating loans. Someone whose name I don't remember suggested a donation group. Personally, I don't favor the loan idea, just because people get weird about money. Doesn't mean I don't think it's possible, just not for me.
I prefer donations/grants. However, I really think people should make their own decisions about where to give. So, I was thinking what could be done would be to have a dedicated thread for people in need to write their diaries. Therefore, interested individuals could check that out and provide cash if they have it or helpful info.
However, if there was a wish for a single target, like the Red Cross, that would be a fish of another tail/tale.
If you don't agree with any part of this, please speak up.
There is another topic - I've seen vetwife, Rebel ga and others provide handy links to information on jobs, contact info for legislators, etc. Is there a dedicated area already on here for that?
Anyway, these are some preliminary thoughts. I look forward to reading yours.