Reading the headlines about the earthquake and devastating tsunami that’s assaulted the entire southeast Asian area, and reading about the weblog entries of people who are talking about the tragedy where upwards of 7500 people have been killed, I just keep wanting to ask everyone “but what have you done to help these people?”

I don’t talk about charitable organizations that I support, because I don’t really want to share my personal politics with the blogosphere, but I will share this: I am an ardent supporter of the American Red Cross. When I read about a tragedy like this, my first reaction isn’t to say “how horrible”, but instead to say “they need help”. Instead of taking the family out for dinner tonight, I donated some money by using the Red Cross Online Donation Form, because they’ll need it for relief efforts.

What have you done for the rest of the world lately?

The CNN site has an excellent map that shows the epicenter of the earthquake – which measured a staggering 8.9 on the logarithmic Richter scale – and gives you a sense of just how many different nations have been affected:

Wondering about the American Red Cross? Here’s some basic information on this wonderful group:

Governed by volunteers and supported by community donations, the American Red Cross is a nationwide network of nearly 900 field units dedicated to saving lives and helping people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Led by 1 million volunteers and 36,000 employees, the Red Cross annually mobilizes relief to families affected by more than 70,000 disasters, trains almost 12 million people in lifesaving skills and keeps U.S. military families connected worldwide. The Red Cross is the largest supplier of blood and blood products to more than 3,000 hospitals across the nation and also assists victims of international disasters and conflicts at locations worldwide.

End 2004 right, or start out 2005 with a glad heart. Donate a few dollars to help with Red Cross disaster relief. Just click here