A quick, yet important, word about charity

Give.

OK, besides that.  I gave money to help the victims of Katrina, and may well give more before this is all over.  That's not my point.

My point is not to forget the other charitable organizations to which you regularly donate.  I remember a lot of charities felt the pinch after 9-11, because so many people redirected their charity dollars to help those victims.

So while I certainly don't want to discourage anyone from donating money to help the victims of this hurricane -- I sorta want to put in a good word for the other charities we all support (whatever they may be).  Diseases still need curing; homeless still need feeding; religious, political, and artistic organizations still need funding -- wherever your charitable bucks usually go, they still need your help, just as much as they always did.

It's always difficult to figure out which of the many worthwhile causes out there should receive our support.  It's also easy to be moved by the pictures we're seeing from New Orleans, and just redirect our usual contributions to disaster relief.  But, if it's at all possible, we shouldn't compound the losses caused by the hurricane by including among them the under-funding of every other charity we generally support.