Obama Enlists Supporters in Wildfire Relief

[babylonsister]

http://washingtonindependent.com/18962/obama-enlists-supporters-in-wildfire-relief

Obama Enlists Supporters in Wildfire Relief
By Matthew DeLong 11/17/08 4:50 PM



One of the big questions that has gone unanswered since President-elect Barack Obama’s victory in the Nov. 4 general election is what to do with his massive list of supporters, which includes up to 10 million email addresses and phone numbers.

Today, Obama demonstrated one way in which the list will continue to be put to use: disaster relief.

BarackObama.com emailed supporters soliciting donations for wildfire victims in Southern California:

Over the past few days, wildfires in Southern California have destroyed nearly 900 homes and burned over 37,000 acres of land, forcing many more families to evacuate their communities.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by the fires.

The Red Cross and Salvation Army are coordinating relief for the victims, and volunteers on the ground are being organized to help with long-term recovery efforts in the days and months to come. If you live in or near Southern California you can volunteer now, and no matter where you live you can help by donating to the relief efforts.

Throughout the campaign, we saw time and again that when ordinary people act together, they can make a huge difference.

Visit CaliforniaVolunteers.org for more information on how you can help.

If recent history is any indicator, the relief organizations are in for a deluge of donations. Newsweek shared this anecdote about the generosity of Obama’s supporters in its recent history of the 2008 presidential campaign:

At the end of August, as Hurricane Gustav threatened the coast of Texas, the Obama campaign called the Red Cross to say it would be routing donations to it via the Red Cross home page. Get your servers ready-our guys can be pretty nuts, Team Obama said. Sure, sure, whatever, the Red Cross responded. We’ve been through 9/11, Katrina, we can handle it. The surge of Obama dollars crashed the Red Cross Web site in less than 15 minutes.

[eshfemme]

1. This is a perfect example of using your power responsibly

I like that his actions pre-suppose the best of us and also brings out the best in us. :)

How long has it been since I've been proud of my President? (Okay, Okay, I know that he's still the President-ELECT but still...)