Who's the Boss?

I am all for political debate and I know a lot of musicians supported Democratic candidates. Bruce Springsteen even travelled and capaigned with John Kerry. However, now that the presidential race is over, how about a concert and or relief effort for the families that have lost a loved one or for soldiers injured or killed in the war on terror. Put your money where your mouth is and show that you really support the troops.

From the Wall Street Journal.

REVIEW & OUTLOOK

Before We Started Giving . . .
In the wake of this tsunami, there's no time for fancy fundraisers.

Friday, January 7, 2005 12:01 a.m.

The outpouring of charitable donations for tsunami relief in Asia is truly astounding. Given the immediacy of the problem, there can be little doubt that aid money spent in the region can help save lives and alleviate terrible despair and suffering. Although many of the recipients are too dazed now to think about where the help has come from, donors can take comfort in knowing that they have participated in an act of mass kindness. The harder part is making sure the check goes to an organization that will use it effectively.

Making a difference is never easy. Remember Bob Geldof, the Irish rocker who was moved by a 1984 TV broadcast on the famine in Ethiopia and kicked off the whole Band Aid-Live Aid concert and fund-raising effort? It's heartening to think that part of the many millions of dollars that poured in kept some Ethiopians alive. In retrospect, however, it seems even clearer than it did at the time that channeling all that money through the corrupt and brutal government of Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam cost many lives, too. Not only was Mengistu the chief architect of the famine, since he waged a war of deliberate dislocation and starvation against his people in a land already ravaged by Marxist economic policies. But much of the hard-currency aid money and even the food that Ethiopia got undoubtedly financed the dictator's war at home and abroad, leading to more death and destruction.

In the case of the tsunami victims, they and their compatriots are facing a natural disaster, not a man-made one. Yet as special tsunami fund-raising events like celebrity concerts (and the inevitable records) pop up all over the place, it's worth remembering that few, if any, of the promoters involved know how the money will be used to help Asians rebuild their lives.

Assuming that it is used that way. It took some 11 years for the money raised in the famous 1971 Concert for Bangladesh to reach that country. Other charity-concert efforts have been marred by accusations of fraud, and few are compelled to open their books. How many people who bought "We Are the World" knew that while the performances were donated, other expenses, including record-company royalties, took a bite? When charity balls make money only after expenses for the food, the drink and the band have been deducted, we're told that simply heightening awareness of a problem is important. Why just put a check in the mail when you can dance the night away for AIDS? In today's case, however, there is no room for fooling around. Serious aid groups don't want to waste a penny.

Heifer International, for instance, certainly will be on the scene eventually with donated livestock. But for now, it is telling visitors to its Web site that other agencies are better equipped to meet the immediate needs of people in tsunami areas. Best of all, it offers a link to Interaction (at interaction.org), whose members are established aid groups that have agreed to a code of ethics that includes financial accountability. At the Interaction site, you can see what many of these organizations are doing for tsunami relief.

That's one way to make an informed decision so that each donated dollar really counts. It's not as exciting as a concert, and there's no CD. That's why they call it giving.