Kavey

CMC
Slightly frustrated, yes.
There are always those who judge others by their own low standards or are simply unable to give the benefit of the doubt and assume others are capable of behaving in altruistic ways.
I am based in the UK, I cannot realistically help in any practical way. I have already donated directly to the International Red Cross.
Donating print profits was suggested by someone else on the photographic site and it seemed like a great idea to me.
I had successfully raised almost £1000 (UK) by sales of these prints for a wildlife conservation charity earlier in the year so thought it might be a successful idea this time around too, especially with so many photographers offering such a range of images - there's bound to be something for everyone.
I hadn't expected such negativity, you're right, but if one person who was thinking of buying a print to remember their holiday or just a new print for their home chooses to buy from these prints rather than from a regular store, it will be a minute step in the right direction.

LoveItaly

Hello Kavey, please do not let a few posters hurt your feelings. There are always a few negative people as you know.

I feel I know what a good and carying person you are and IMO the generous offer by all these photographers is wonderful. Thank you for sharing the information. Take good care and best wishes.

Kavey

Aach, don't worry, this kind of sniping doesn't get me down for long - I'm too much the eternal optimist! Implications of profiteering are certainly a little hurtful (and misplaced) but par for the course on a site such as this!!!

But it would be shame if people let these negative opinions sway their decision to purchase a print. I don't care whether it's one of mine or not - every penny profit from all those prints goes to the right place.

Do have a look "y'all" and see if there's anything that takes your fancy. The breadths of subject matter and styles takes my breath away!

Patrick

m_kingdom, you are apparently living in a fantasy world or else you have a fantasy vision of the US. There are tens of thousands of victims of Katrina who have no insurance. When someone is living way below the poverty level and is living hand to mouth to begin with, where in the world do you think they are getting money to pay insurance? And pray tell, what are they insuring?

The US may be a wealthy country, but there are hundreds of thousands of people affected by the hurricane who do not have a penny or a change of clothes to their name. Money IS the issue.

New Orleans has one of the highest percentages of people living below poverty level. And even people who were not in poverty, now have nothing. In addition to money providing actual clothes, water, medical supplies, medicines, personal toiletries, etc., it takes one huge heap of money to pay for the distribution and transportation of all those items. And that's before we start talking about the rebuilding of the many, many cities completely destroyed.

You are talking rubbish, m_kingdom. Normally I laugh at your snobbish opinions about the riff raff who must stoop to riding public transportation or who don't patronize the BEST of the designer shops. But your last post goes way beyond laughable.

Do the words "let them eat cake" sound familiar?

Scarlett

Thanks kavey~
My thoughts are however they get the money to those poor people, it is good. All this bickering and worrying about who else might get a bit out of it is so counter-productive. The time is now to do something!
We shop at a Whole Foods market where they take donations at the register for the Red Cross. We are there at least once a day ( sigh, no, I am not cooking that much, they bake and cook for me )
So every time we check out, we donate too. That way it goes in small bits along with the grocery money and we sort of feel like while we are buying food, we are helping someone else buy food too.

It is all in the way you see these things. If donating money to a photography site or a grocery store does it for you, that is great. Just do it though, that is what is Important.

m_k, I hear you live in the US?

crefloors

As far as insurance goes, even some people who HAVE insurance are going to be in for a rude awakening. Most policies do NOT cover flood damage and flood insurance has to be purchased as a separate policy throught the federal government...I can't remember the name of the agency but had to have a flood insurance policy for several years when I first bought my house. If people's houses were NOT damaged by the hurricane but were covered in floor water, many will find their policies do not cover the loss. This is going to be a disaster for so many people who are not expecting this kind of "blow" on top of what they have already been through. If your roof got blown off by the wind, your roof is covered, but if the rest of the structure is damaged from floor water, the portion you have to hang the roof ON is NOT covered. The entire scope of damage from this hurrican will not be known for quite some time: financial loss and human suffering. Kavey, thank you for your post. I visit the Africa board from time to time..lurking..it's my dream to visit Africa, so I know you are for real. I read your efforts for wildlife preservation, so for those who never visit that board, I just want to say that this offer is for real, if you wish to partake in it,

m_kingdom2

I live in the US? I don't think Tony's got quite that cosy with George yet.

I understand the tsunami, the people had nothing and the governments had nothing, so worldwide financial aid was required. I don't get America asking for money for its own citizens - why shouldn't America itself pay when it has the resources? I get asking for people to assist, but why ask for something that it's got lots of?

annesherrod

Again,.....naive...

Patrick

m_kingdom, thanks for informing us that the governments of the countries involved in the tsunami had NO money. That was news to me.

I'm not sure what a "country having money" has to do with people in that country being poor. I guess you've also said that there is no reason anyone from any other country should offer any kind of aid if a huge disaster struck the UK, wiping out half of its cities and resources. After all they also have money, so they can take care of themselves.

No,annesherrod, not naive -- ignorant and unable to comprehend or use logic is more like it.

m_kingdom2

I never said anything about help, I agree all the help that can be had - in terms of people and food and shelter - is needed. But why ask for money when the US government is one of the wealthiest in the world? It has reserves of billions, and billions that could be made available, so why is there this need to ask other people for money?

It's rather like sending coal to Newcastle.

crefloors

Well, with all the news reports from so many many different sources, I may have missed it, but I don't recall the US ASKING for ANYTHING. We have had offers from countries, bless them, and then I really havn't heard anything FOR SURE on what we are and are not accepting. I have seen lots of posts saying we SHOULD accept, or that we probably WON'T accept, but SHOULD accept, so I'm not sure what's happening. I HEARD that Kuwait had either sent or pledged 500 million dollars. Don't know if it's true, pledging is different from sending...I think we'll here more about this in the coming days. At this point, we have NO money in our treasury...you know, that word "deficit"? The debate rages on and will continue to rage on...we brought all this on ourselves, we are receiving the wrath of God for our policies and on and on. We are the most giving people, the most generous people on earth. Not everyone who lives here is rich by the standards of the developed world, and everyday, ordinary citizens in all walks of life, and all political persuasion.. and there's been plenty of politics here of late...give of their time and resources to others...in our own county and countries abroad. Some in large ways, and others in small ways, but giving what they can and doing what they can. Volunterring for schools, for seniors, donating food or $ to food banks, giving money for charities of all kinds, and when something like Katrina happens, they go in and dig a little deeper to give a little more, or in some cases a lot more. We have LOADS of issues that need to be addressed, yes we do, and I have been angry at some of the posts these last few days, but I am proud of my country and the way our people of all persuasions can pull together in time like these.

Patrick

"But why ask for money when the US government is one of the wealthiest in the world? It has reserves of billions, and billions that could be made available, so why is there this need to ask other people for money?"

I'm trying so hard not to laugh. Ignorance really can be funny.

MelJ

m_Kingdom, you have gone from being merely tedious to being truly, madly and deeply moronic.

m_kingdom2

Asking for charity, and asking for money are two different things.

crefloors

Oh mk2, put a designer sock in it!!!!!!

Kavey

Scarlett, thanks, that's exactly the kind of thing I was thinking. Like it or not few are going to donate their entire disposable income to charity. But if they are able to find a way to buy their normal purchases for their home, office or whatever and donate a little more at the same time, why not strive to capture that? BTW there are quite a few beautiful prints (not mine) of Paris and other favourite European haunts there which might look nice on the wall!

Crefloors, thanks also. Lots of Africa prints there too!

Seriously, can we stop the arguing and IF you think this is a good idea, pass the link on wherever you think it may be of interest?

LoveItaly

The way insurance works is like this.
If you have water damage in your home from rain being driven into your home through say broken windows your HO policy will cover you for that water damage. If you have a sudden burst of a pipe and you have water damage your HO policy will cover you.

If you house is flooded with ground water and damage your HO policy will NOT cover you. You need a Flood Ins. policy for that coverage. And unfortunatly there is no guarantee that that policy will pay you enough to rebuild your house. Past events have had people taking insurance companies to court in order to get a decent settlement.

If you are at the lower end of the economic scale and do not own your house but rent you will not have coverage of course. That is up to the property owner to carry. So if the property owner does not carry Flood Ins. and the property is damaged due to ground water the property you have been renting no longer exsist.

Now I do not know about all of the US but I would imagine it is the same as in CA. When one obtains a mortgage to buy a piece of property IF the property is in a designated floor zone the lender will not give you the money for a mortgage unless you obtain Flood Ins. and keep the policy in force until the mortgage is paid in full.

Often you will find older properties that have been owned for years have had their mortgages paid in full and consequently the property owner no longer carries Flood Ins. I would suspect that could be the case on a lot of properties in the Gulf Shore States such as NO as if I understand correctly a lot of the properties are old. I don't personally know as I have never been to NO.

And then there is the small matter that people have "lost" their jobs. And unfortunatly most Americans do not save a lot of money. And certainly the people that work in low paying jobs don't as they can't. I know a lot of people that make good money and the only "savings" they have basically is the equity in their house.

If we in CA have a terrible earthquake I know that a lot of people here will be in a horrible situation also. Especially since CA no longer has decent earthquake insurance.

I think it boils down to "there but for the grace of God go I".

Bless everyone that has and will help depending on their ability to donate be it money, time, comfort or what have you. I know of a couple of young families with children that forego the "fun events" they had this Labor Day weekend and took that money and donated it. And we have a Fodorite that cancelled their getaway and donated the money they would have spent. Again, blessing to all who care and realize we are all on this earth together.

jody

Well said, Loveitaly!

I don't know about LA<AL< or MS but in FL even if you are insured the deductible can go as high as 5% of the assessed value of your home..in a lot of cases that is more than some people can gather together before they can even start to find a contractor. After 1 year from our hurricanes there are still houses tht are waiting for repair..either from lack of money or not being able to find someone to do the job!

crefloors

LoveItaly: thanks for clarifying. I was thinking about you when I posted because I knew you were in the insurance business. The bottom line is, things do not look good for many people in those three states. Several years ago, after the Oakland Hills fire, my brother drove me up through there...this was about two years after the fire..and many lots were still empty, some by the owner's choice, not wanting the rebuild, but others because the money wasn't there...and that is a so called wealthy area. I paid 26,000 for the first house I bought, in Novato, in Marin County. Had I stayed in that house I'd be looking at 500,00-700,000 in value today. Also, I would be protected by Prop 13. I'm just an ordinary person, but if I were to tell anyone I lived in Marin, the eyebrows go up and it's "oh, you MUST be rich". So, there are some perceptions out there about who is rich and who is poor, that aren't totaly correct.

Patrick

If 30% of the population of New Orleans lived below poverty level (isn't that the figure I heard?), then you can be relatively certain that there are at least 150,000 people right there who have no insurance whatsoever. And that's just for starters in the entire three state area.