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Buddhist Peace Fellowship Statement on Hurricane Katrina and its Aftermath September 1, 2005 The Buddhist Peace Fellowship sends our thoughts and prayers to all those who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina, especially the citizens of New Orleans. We can’t begin to imagine the scope of this tragedy, as it unfolds before us. Those worst stricken by this disaster are overwhelmingly Black, poor, and disenfranchised. BPF encourages all of our chapters and dharma centers across the world to contribute to emergency relief efforts as soon as possible (see information below). And we bow deeply in recognition of all the people who are working tirelessly in these efforts: military personnel, nonprofit organziations, and civilians. They are true bodhisattvas. In the long run, much more will be needed in terms of offering support to help this region of the U.S. recover. Many questions are raised by this situation, including the distribution of resources in our country which have prioritized military spending on the war in Iraq over critical domestic tasks such as strengthening the levees around the city of New Orleans; the diversion and deployment of the U.S. National Guard troops to Iraq rather than within their own states; and the intersection of institutionalized racism and poverty that has resulted in so many good people living in such desperate conditions. It is heartwrenching to know that many had so little resources that they weren’t even able to leave the site of disaster. There will be time to take a deeper look at these hard questions. But in this moment, we believe that the appropriate response is to rally around the people of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi and offer support of all kinds – material, emotional, and spiritual.
Waking Up to Suffering: Seven Ways That Dharma Communities (and everyone!) Can Respond Waking Up to the Tragedy of New Orleans, by BPF Director Maia Duerr
Emergency Aid Organizations: America’s Second Harvest: The Nation’s Food Bank Network 800-344-8070 www.secondharvest.org American Friends Service Committee www.donatefast.com/donate/index.cfm?id=afcrisis
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