An amazing thing has been happening since Hurricane Harvey made landfall last Friday. To be certain, there’s been tons of tragedy. Lots of people have lost everything. Some people lost their life. I don’t want to diminish those things whatsoever. That being said, I don’t want to ignore the things that ‘ordinary’ private citizens have been doing since the flooding started. It would be wrong to not talk about what corporations, churches and charitable organizations are doing, too.
When I wrote this post, I spoke about Bass Pro Shops’ contribution to the search and rescue operations, saying “Bass Pro Shops is pitching in with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in Texas, providing dozens of boats to rescue and relief efforts. Bass Pro Shops is pitching in with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in Texas, providing dozens of boats to rescue and relief efforts.” At the time, I thought that this was an incredible gesture on Bass Pro Shop’s part.
Three days later, I’m even more impressed with BPS. It turns out that they aren’t just donating 20 boats to the search and rescue efforts. They’re contributing 80 fully outfitted jon boats (boat, motor and trailer combos). They’re contributing approximately $40,000 worth of nonperishable snack foods, too, to sustain victims and search crews, life vests and other supplies:
Yesterday, I published this post. Featured in that post was a family getting rescued by Pastor Carlos. A family was in need and Pastor Carlos made sure they got rescued.
Compare this with the DC media’s attention to total BS stories. When crises like Harvey happen, DC’s BS gets stripped away. Regulations get pitched overboard. (Pardon the pun.) Private citizens band together and do incredible things when they’re permitted to do heroic things. That’s what’s amazing.
The lesson I’d like the United States to learn is to strip away the distractions, then focus on what’s essential. Texas is giving us a blueprint that helps people prioritize and get the important things done before taking care of nonessential things.
Nothing focuses the mind like a crisis. There’s little margin for error. Efficiency is essential to saving lives. Every minute counts. We have to be at our best. That’s whether we’re talking about the local, state or federal governments, or whether we’re talking about corporations or individuals.
This crisis has shown Americans that we’re still essentially a nation of problem-solvers. It’s part of our national DNA.
Finally, it isn’t wrong to say that few other nations in the world could do what we’re seeing done in Houston, Corpus Christi and other parts of southeast Texas.
Technorati: Bass Pro Shops, Search and Rescue Operations, Jon Boats, Hurricane Harvey, Heroes, Teamwork, Volunteerism, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Samaritans Purse, Corpus Christi, Houston, Churches, FEMA, Washington, DC
