Morning Call – September 21, 2005

Katrina Bucks County Relief

Dear Friends,

Good morning. I thought of the book, “Bowling Alone” as I sat in the Bucks County Katrina Relief Fund organizational meeting last Thursday. Nearly 200 community volunteers, local and state government leaders, business people, and clergy met at Peddlers Village to hear how Bucks County citizens…mostly from the private sector…plan to help victims of the Katrina hurricane disaster.

When the effort reaches high gear, my bet is that thousands of Bucks and Montgomery County people will be involved as volunteers. And that’s what takes me to “Bowling Alone.”

The author, Robert Putnam, a Professor of Public Policy at Harvard, says that every kind of political, cultural or recreational activity that involves direct human contact, like church going, card playing, dinner parties, or even eating dinner together as a family has declined. Further, Putnam says that those in their 70’s and 80’s continue to be the mainstream of community volunteerism because the younger generation won’t serve either because they’re too busy or lack interest.

Alfred Putnam should visit Bucks County. I’m not sure whether the 9/11 tragedy changed America’s attitude or not. But I know that local events like Quakertown’s Sesquicentennial celebration have attracted a plethora of volunteers.

I talked with William Eastburn, a Doylestown lawyer and former President of the Bucks County Bar Association. He is one of the leaders of the Bucks County effort. What makes the Bucks County Katrina Relief Effort unusual is that it plans to “adopt” a single storm-ravaged community in Mississippi or Louisiana and provide money, services, volunteers and material to rebuild it.

Donald Billingsley is the Executive Director of Inter Faith Housing in Bucks County and the point man to select the appropriate Gulf state community. “Don has identified 25 towns with populations of less than 10,000,” Eastburn began. “His committee will recommend a town with a racially diverse population which includes a great number of people who live at or below the poverty level. Don runs a “Weed and Seed” program in the [Bucks] county. He has been successful in the worst ghetto in Bristol Township and is rebuilding it physically, emotionally and spiritually.”

How much money do you hope to raise, I asked Eastburn? “We don’t have a dollar target,” he replied, “But it will emanate out of what town is chosen and what the needs are.” Eastburn believes that the effort will take several years.

Members at the organizational meeting gasped when Bob Byers [Byers Choice, the Christmas ornaments company] and David Slotter [President of First Savings Bank, Perkasie] each pledged $100,000 for the effort. “Our management team and the board was looking for a way to help out,” Slotter told me. Byers is a member of the bank’s board of directors. First Savings hit a home run.

Major Jorge Diaz is the Director of City Operations for the Salvation Army and spoke at the meeting. His brochure reads: “A $100 donation to The Salvation Army will feed a family of four for two days, provide two cases of drinking water, and one household clean-up kit. 100 % of donations go directly to the relief operation and helping families (no administrative fees are taken out and gifts are only used for hurricane relief).”

If you’d like to help on a committee, call Eastburn at 215-345-7000, Byers at 215-822-6700, or Diaz at 1-800-SAL ARMY. To make a tax-deductible contribution, send it to the Salvation Army, 701 North Broad St. Philadelphia, PA 19123. Volunteerism is alive and well in Bucks County.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith