Good things can come from sour lemons – at least sometimes. Today at our church a merry gaggle of children organized a “Lemon-Aid” stand – complete with splattery hand-lettered signs. The lemonade tasted great, the customer service was fabulous and dollar bills fell into the collection basket. All of the proceeds will go to relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims.

It was a bright spot in a bleak week. If you’re like our family – you’ve watched the images on the news showing horrific devastation, separated loved ones, people pushed to the brink of endurance, and communities on the threshold of despair. The human suffering oozing from our TV screens is overwhelming and painful.

If you’re not in the gulf states, it’s easy to turn away and nuzzle back into our daily routines – and push the human tragedy from our minds. But we shouldn’t. Each of us can do something. This is the time to teach our children about giving back to the community and helping neighbors in need. There are lots of ways for your family to make a difference. Here’s ten ideas:

1. Donate money together. Money is what is most needed after a disaster. Decide as a family to take money that your family had planned to use for something else – a dinner out at a restaurant, a special purchase, movie tickets – and donate it to help hurricane victims. Downscale your other activities appropriately – and you’ll teach your children money management as well as charity. Donate through the American Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund at 1-800-HELP-NOW or www.redcross.org.

To help your children understand where their money goes, talk about the meals and services the Red Cross provides to victims and visit their website for updates on relief efforts. Often the story vignettes online sharing an affected family’s story can drive home how important your donation is. If you’d like to explore donating to another relief group, CNN has compiled a list with links to aid agencies.

2. Talk about the storm’s impact on pets and donate funds to aid in animal recovery. If your children love animals, the ASPCA, has a Hurricane Katrina relief fund to help reunite families with their pets and rebuild shattered shelter programs. Additionally, the Noah’s Wish shelter in Slidell has a large effort underway to reunite stranded pets with their owners and is accepting donations to support their shelter housing hundreds of animals separated from their owners by Hurricane Katrina. You can see pictures of pets online and talk with your children about how a family might feel about getting a lost pet returned after a disaster of this magnitude.
3. Send a health kit, blanket kit or school kit. Thousands of families need the most basic supplies. The United Methodist Committee on Relief has packing lists online for organizing these easy kits. Many families and congregations like packing these kits because the aid is tangible – and you know that people in need will use items you personally pack. The United Methodist Church has a disaster response effort underway in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. Health kits and blankets are especially needed, and you can get packing instructions online.
4. Pack a family food box. Louisiana Southern Baptists are accepting donations of “family food boxes” to help families get back on their feet. Each box contains dried food products to help families get back on their feet. It’s very important that packing instructions be followed exactly. This can be a fun family, neighborhood or church project and you can download packing instructions and photos of a properly packed box online.
5. Organize a tool or blanket drive. Church World Service is encouraging congregations to collect blankets and tools. They can provide you with a video and other information to help you conduct a blanket and tool drive in your church.
6. Help your children or teens hold a fundraiser. The “Lemon-Aid” stand is a great example of young people taking initiative to make a difference. Your children can probably come up with plenty of ways to secure donations to help hurricane relief. They can make “hurricane relief” bands, organize a bake sale, babysit and donate their proceeds, etc. If you want to multiply your efforts, invite your children’s sports team, club, or school to participate. Youth Service America has posted a website loaded with ideas.
7. Adopt a school or club. Your child’s school or youth organization could “adopt a school” or “adopt a chapter” in Alabama, Louisiana or Mississippi that needs help recovering from the storm and develop a longer-term relationship. For example, the Louisiana 4-H Foundation has set up a relief fund to aid employees. Girls Scouts USA and Boy Scouts USA have issued suggestions for ways to involve local chapters.
8. Plan a longer term service-learning project in partnership with young people. The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse has compiled a guide to help young people, college students and teachers planning service-learning projects to respond to Hurricane Katrina. Service learning projects typically involve assessing a need, designing a project to meet the need, and active reflection while the young person is implementing the project.
9. Volunteer with your local chapter of the American Red Cross. Due to the ongoing disaster relief effort, more than 4,000 Red Cross volunteers have left their families and gone to the disaster zone. Local chapters will need even more volunteers to help with needs at home and answer increased calls from the public. Volunteering as a family or on your own can be a rewarding experience.
10. Publicize relief efforts and invite others to help. Issue a press release about your relief project and invite others in your community to help. Place website banners for the American Red Cross on your organization, family or business website. Many religious groups have bulletin inserts or fliers for distribution at services – download these fliers online and distribute them.

Dawn Miller writes a column on life in blended families at thestepfamilylife.com. 
Visit Dawn's blog for a daily dose of life in the blender.
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