Weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, much of New Orleans is still under water and hundreds of thousands of people are still displaced. Emergency workers are still pulling bodies out from the worst hit areas of New Orleans, with Hurricane Katrina’s current death toll rising past 1200 people. Levees still need to be rebuilt. Displaced residents still need places to live, jobs and money to buy goods with, and a school to send their children to before their lives manage to approach anything near normal.

There are many ways for people to contribute to the relief effort, including donating money, non-perishable food, clothing and other basic needs to the American Red Cross. People can also volunteer to be relief workers and head down to the devastated region as part of the USA Freedom Corps or through other agencies. Organizing a local relief effort such as a food drive or collecting donations from around the neighborhood would get people in an area to donate, helping the overall relief effort.

Several community relief efforts are currently underway, or have already happened, in Palo Alto. Foods teacher Leigh Cambra organized one where members of the Paly community donated over 30,000 pounds of supplies to Gulfport, Miss. Several clubs and groups on campus, including the Key Club, have conducted fundraising activities to donate money. These efforts are all commendable, but instead of having several loosely affiliated groups, the groups at Paly should consider combining into a single, unified effort to provide relief to the residents of the Gulf Coast.

Helping the people of the Gulf Coast is one of the greatest acts of selflessness a person can perform. No matter what a person may think of how the situation is being handled, it is the patriotic duty of those Americans spared from disaster to help their fellow citizens in their time of need. The political bickering can be conducted at any point in time, but the people of the Gulf Coast needs everyone’s help now.