Let's Not Argue About Compassion

I've been out of the blogging loop for a couple of days, and I just don't have it in me to continue my MLA-related rant right now. I promise, I'll come back to it, and I might even be able to be calm and rational for having let it sit.

The question I want to pose today is one highlighted on LITA-L and elsewhere, I assume, because it's a pretty obvious question (I apologize for not being able to link to the post itself, but the archives of LITA-L are closed).

If you are donating time, money, or supplies to the hurricane relief effort, is it OK to support just one aspect of that effort (i.e., libraries)? Should your money go to the Red Cross or Salvation Army to help save and rebuild lives right this minute, or is it ethical to target your assistance to a narrow and possibly tangential cause?

I think in the best of all worlds, you do both. Chip in to the immediate relief fund(s), and then do what you can in your area of interest. If you can't do both, I hope you don't spend too much time worrying about what's right, and I hope no one criticizes the decision you make (like the person who commented on LITA-L that we should be focusing on survivors and not thinking about libraries right now).

Millions will respond to the calls from the Red Cross; far fewer will respond to the calls for donations to rebuild and restock libraries, particularly in a few months when the crisis has passed and "donor fatigue" has set in. Do what feels right to you, but do something, and let's not argue about compassion.