[whiz white]

Shooters let

It's 3:00 AM and I couldn't sleep, so I went out to the shop and turned on the TV. Boy, I have to tell you, there are lots of my customers on the East Coast who probably won't be shooting or reloading for a long while.

Kathy and I logged onto the Red Cross website and made a healthy tax deductible donation to help these folks. God knows they need every bit of help RIGHT NOW that they can get.

I remember the 1972 flood right here in Rapid City, SD that killed hundreds of people and completely destroyed hundreds and hundreds of homes, vehicles, businesses, and saw recovery that took a long time.

In fact, Anderson is on the TV broadcasting from NYC, and the other channel was broadcasting from Hoboken, NJ. I actually have some customers whom I shipped to there, and other places as well. I have a ton of customers out there who probably won't be shooting for a helluva long time. Let's help them. Most of us can afford to donate - please do.

There's nothing better than the feeling of helping others who really need our help. You probably won't be able to say it's from a trap shooter, a skeet shooter, a sporting clays shooter, etc., but, if I were in their wet shoes, I'd sure as hell appreciate ANYTHING coming my way.

We are most likely going to make several more donations to the Red Cross. Kathy is also going to coordinate a group effort through our church to do something as well. I hope you can see your way clear to add something to the kitty.

I'm off my soapbox now and gonna head back to the house and see if I can get some shut-eye. Please help, it's what makes this country so great!

Night!

Jim White

 

[TEXASZEPHYR]

Jim, There may be some better avenues to help those on the East coast.
Check out what percentage of their funds actually get to the people that need help. and how much is kept for keeping the organization going.

I understand that with the Red Cross 90 percent is used for administrative costs. Personally I think maybe the Salvation Army, or Most of the church groups get a greater % of your donation to those who need it the most. Just sayin, check em out before you give your hard earned money to a large organization.

Maybe some of the gun clubs in the area could use the funds or even distribute funds to those who need them the worst. Just sayin. It would be nice to help our own if it were possible.

Bob

 

[scott calhoun]

Rather than going with "I heard this" or "someone told me that", it's possible to actually research (I know, a foreign concept for many) charities to see how they use their money. Check out the link above for Charity Navigator, a website that compiles data and reviews of charities. There is a search function at the top of the page to search for a specific charity, and there are also a lot of links to info on various types of charities.

Regarding the American Red Cross, the website has the following information.

Financial Performance Metrics

Program Expenses 92.2%

Administrative Expenses 4.0%

Fundraising Expenses 3.7%

Fundraising Efficiency $0.12

Primary Revenue Growth 3.1%

Program Expenses Growth -1.4%

Working Capital Ratio (years) 0.44


Program Expenses reflect the amount of money spent on the mission of the charity. From the website:

Program Expenses:

This measure reflects what percent of its total budget a charity spends on the programs and services it exists to deliver. Dividing a charity's program expenses by its total functional expenses yields this percentage.

So the Red Cross spends over 90 percent of it's money on helping people, not on administrative costs.

Scott

 

[Jerbear]

Glenn Beck's Mercury One fund has 100% going to the victims. The link above shows they have already raised $214,000.

To read about Mercury One, go here... http://www.mercuryone.org/

Jerbear

 

[rooferbob]

That is a very good clarification Scott
Thanks for the post.
NOW TO ALL PLEASE DONATE TILL IT HURTS. Dig out those old clothes and deep in your pockets. I personally know a lot of people here who have lost everything!
Rooferbob

 

[MDMike]

We got hammered. I'm going to try to get a picture up today. It was wild.

 

[MDMike]

This is a view from my front yard during the storm. I've lived here on Maryland's Eastern Shore for 57 years. This is the worst I've ever see. The little waterfront town we live in looked like a war zone. Here at our house we just got off generator power but I think the 'phones are still out. I want to thank My Faternal Brother Jim (Whiz) and all the others for your kind thoughts and deeds. You guys gotta be the greatest.

 

[Brian in Oregon]

Nonsense. Obama is taking care of everything. No American left behind.

 

[shadow]

I have made a donation to the Salvation Army to help those in need on our Eastern Shores.

Really have no use for the Red Cross ! In my case it is personal.

 

[Guest]

I am a cop and I see Salvation Army vouchers used all the time for people who abuse the system. People driving across the country with little to no money stop in every other community along the way to find a police officer to give them $20 worth of food and gas using Salvation Army vouchers. In the rare case that doesn't work, they find the nearest church to siphon funds from. In the cold winter months hitch hikers are given hotel rooms compliments of the Salvation Army as well.

I have no doubt the Salvation Army is a wonderful organization that helps countless people in need on an annual basis, but I see first hand too much abuse and misuse.

 

[whiz white]

Red Cross, Salvation Army, or whomever, it doesn't really matter, just doing something.

I'd like to see my city also organize a clothing effort and use our Ellsworth AFB tankers or cargo planes get items out to those folks.

I also want to thank Larry Frieders of Grandpa's Arms, Inc. for the kind e-mail response AND for taking this effort to a higher lever on Facebook and Twitter.

It is great to see things, anything, starting to develope. Again, 99.9% of us are good folk!

Whiz

 

[CalvinMD]

Our local grocery store donated 2 semi's with drivers that will be going to Jersey once they are full...one was filled in 24hrs..I purchased 3 cases of bottled water and a couple cases of canned stews..stuff thats like meals in a can that could be eaten hot or cold and other things like tuna, peanut butter, etc....the grocery store was also taking donations to purchase pallets of bread at cost for distributing with the other food...this will be going to shelters in the hardest hit areas...felt really good to help out..but they will be needing alot more in the next coming months so give what you can

 

[Jerry944t]

I can tell you that it's unreal here in suburban Philadelphia. I just got my electricity back but no phones or Internet.

Thank you guys like Whiz and others who are reaching out. There are plenty of people that lost everything.

I also must mention the inevitability of some gobshite like Brian to take the opportunity of a horrendous natural disaster for their own political spew. They just don't make bigger jerks than that.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I have found Americares to very cost effective and efficient. TTT

 

[SD Trap Family]

Whiz, count us in. Let us know when you might do donations at the church and we will bring stuff down there.

Hope to see you soon,

Bud, Char, Foster and Matt Bartholow

 

[Rebel Sympathy]

Great idea. Let's do every bit as much as we did for the Gulf Coast (Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas) during their crisis years. Thanks. Mike

 

[whiz white]

10-4, Buddy. Been trying to get to the gun club on Sunday's, but we've had so much out-of-town/state company lately.

Kath has been so busy with a family. The Presbyterian Church in Des Moines put together a mission trip about 10 days ago, and came out here. They rebuilt part of a home in Newell for a couple who have been foster parents to 7 FAE/FAS very young children, they served some meals at the Mission, and helped to organize inventory at the Cornerstone Mission Store. We helped to host a dinner for all of them last Wednesday.

Unfortunately, one of the gals in the group from IA who just retired and wanted to volunteer there came out here with that crew, but was nearly killed in that accident last week on I90. It was in the newspaper where the car hit black ice, slide across the median on I90 and hit the semi headon out by Tillford. She's at Regional with shattered hip, broken bones, and a tear in her aorta. She been in several surgeries. My son's wife, a nurse there said tonight at dinner that if she gets pneumonia, she probably won't make it. What a shame.

Sad part too is that her husband had to come out here cold turkey knowing no one here. Kath's cousin and her buddy, a retired attorney from Scottsdale, let him stay at their home at the Broadmore. Now they are going back to Scottsdale tomorrow, so Kath has been trying like heck to get him a place to stay through the church. That's her agenda now until it's all taken care of. Boy, when it rains, it pours.

And we wondered if we'd be bored when we retired - HA!

 

[Star4Ever]

Here is a report from Stratford, CT (along the coast of Long Island Sound and bordered by the Housatonic River....

We had 70-75 MPH winds on Monday from 4PM to about Midnight there was very little rain but the storm surge of the sound waters coincided with full moon high tides. The coastline area took a beating in our town.... some erosion of sand, major damage to coastline houses (cottages) and sea walls. Some beaches have had sand deposited there some scoured away.

Close to 70% loss of electric power town wide so about 35,000 homes with no power on Tuesday.

Each day since Tuesday we have more and more sections of power being restored... Trees took down power lines and broke poles so this is the most damage I have seen to the electrical infrastructure since Hurrican Gloria in the 1980's. Lineman crews and tree crews from many States have arrived in the stricken areas to help restore power. Great thing. A crew from Indiana was seen on my street working on the lines and poles!

Gasoline, water and food are available in my area. We personally ran our home on a 8000W gas generator which worked perfectly. However the weather is now getting colder and those without electricity or heat will suffer.

In New York, the damage is much more severe from what I have heard on radio. There is a gasoline shortage as most gas stations have no electricity. Those stations that have electricity to pump gas soon run out. Tempers are hot. People are suffering. The NY City Marathon was just canceled because of a public outcry lead by WFAN in NYC.

There were 43 people killed to date by the storm in NY and Long Island. Still many homes under water, or no heat, no electricity, no hot food. There is real suffering on the Island, Staten Island and the south shore areas of NY and New Jersey.

Personally, this was a really nasty storm. We were out of power for 4 full days. Just came on last night. I lost two large white pine trees one of which just missed my house when it fell. Of the two gun clubs that I am a member, the Ansonia Rod & Gun and Seymour Fish & Game are up an running. Each had power out for one to two days respectively, but are now back in operation.

A fellow trapshooter (in the CT Trapshooter Hall of Fame) who lives on the coast in West Haven, CT has his home under water. He moved his guns and stuff to a fellow trapshooter's home prior to the flood waters. We all are going to help him get back to good when he gets some power and we are allowed into that area.

God Bless... Art

 

[1oldtimer]

Our little church in Luckey,Ohio is donating $1,000. for the cause.
Clyde

 

[oz]

If you want to see what is going on you have to watch FOX....watch the mainstream media if you need to know how to dress up your pets or vote for moochelle odumbo's best outfit. I live in the north east and was hit by sandy. NOTE::: all the guys from the south and other places that are restoring our electricity won't get to vote. they are not home. Just like our military who are not home.