Local giving

As I passed the confluence of 65th Street, Broadway and Columbus Avenue this morning on my way to work, I noticed several news vans on the corner. Since I need to know everything, I walked over to see what was up. There were large white signs affixed to lamp posts announcing that a group called American Family was driving donated trucks down south to deliver supplies to hurricane refugees.

My immediate reaction was that a group called American Family would be a fundamentalist Christian organization that didn't represent any of my ideas about what being an American or a family were. And, as it turns out, there is a scary organization by that name.

But the American Family gathering supplies at Lincoln Center is not the same one. They are just a loose coalition of regular-sounding people trying to do some good. I've got some "gently worn" clothing I can donate, and maybe I'll pick up some of the other things they are asking for at the grocery store. The most needed items are toiletries, individual servings of drinks and wrapped snacks, Stage 1 and 2 baby food, Similac with iron (baby formula), diapers (newborn to size 5), and new baby bottles. They're also asking for medical supplies, nonperishable food, water, toys, clothing, insect repellent and pain relievers.