Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino have announced the formation of The One Fund Boston, Inc. to help the people most affected by the tragic events that occurred in Boston on April 15, 2013. Click to donate.
I don’t talk about current events much on this blog. On Monday, the events at the Boston Marathon really hit home, though.
You see, I grew up near Boston. I have friends and family who live there. My fiancee’s cousin is an Olympic runner and does marathons like the Boston Marathon on a regular basis. Monday afternoon was spent checking in on my relatives and friends, following livefeeds, staying informed. As the news broke the last couple of days, and more names I knew and people from my hometown kept cropping in the headlines, it had been emotionally difficult to cope. So I stayed away from public announcements, but I am undoubtedly grateful for the outpouring of support I’ve seen from people who were on the ground and from elsewhere.
Thank you to the first-responders who rushed to the scene. Thank you to the marathon volunteers who stayed for 14 hours straight to assist runners and the injured. Thank you to the runners who went the two extra miles to donate blood at Mass General. Thank you to the hundreds who have donated already to family charities and organizations for the victims. Thank you to Occupy for the lovely light display that night, and to Stephen Colbert and John Stewart, for their speeches on yesterday’s broadcast, and to the messages of support that have been traveling online.
There are other tragedies happening throughout the world (as they always are). An 7.8 earthquake rocked the Iran/Pakistan border yesterday. A bombing happened this morning in Bangalore. Now is not the time, however, for comparing and contrasting tragedies. Quantifying suffering does not minimize their affects. The best that a single person can do in a situation is act, the best they can do wherever they are, to stop the suffering that they see. People do this in a political context as well as a humanitarian one and I respect both ways. But conversations that further provoke needless pain are not productive. Not right now.
The One Fund is open for donations. Please send what you can.
Beyond Victoriana 