I’m sitting here in my comfortable house, listening to the rain drum down as I make eggs for my breakfast. I’m thinking about Hurricane Matthew, which we are on the outskirts of today, and the devastation it caused in Haiti. 

When Bob and I were first married, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, and left more than 150,000 men, women, and children dead. We started looking that very day at adopting – feeling it out – because if there was a chance we could keep a family together we wanted to do it. Unfortunately, all the creshes in Haiti are run by Christian groups – which means they require a couple to be straight and married for 10 years before you can adopt. We haven’t gotten to 10 years yet, even now! But we continued to follow Chances for Children on Facebook and Twitter. 

Seeing the death toll in Haiti rise to 900 during the storm (so far) is bringing back a lot of the old panic and concern for all those children in need, in such a poor nation, where do few people can help. Florida has seen some casualties as well, and millions are without power (for who knows how long). But ultimately, we are so lucky; we have the national resources to provide for our displaced American families, and we can rebuild. It’s hard and it sucks, but we can do it. Haiti doesn’t have our resources – neither monetarily nor available able-bodied humans. Let’s do what we can for our people at home, but also consider donating to a Haitian orphanage, like Chances for Children. 

Of course all of this makes me livid that anyone would suggest that the storm was over hyped to make a political point. How short-sighted and selfish. Base ignorance of that sort will not be tolerated, so be sure to vote as well (since I’m telling you what to do).