Disaster Relief

I have a Board meeting today.

The last one was in Chicago and I sat at a conference room table, with Rebekah sitting beside me as she has for more than a decade taking notes, surrounded by Board members, conducting business.

Today I'll be sitting in Corporate Headquarters on the beloved back deck under the red, yellow, green, brown umbrella, overlooked by Fran's thousand shades of green, picking the dead Hibiscus blooms off the trees so new ones will sprout and giggling at the Palm Tree in our Backyard that has a smiling face on it made of oyster shells, a coconut bra and grass skirt. I'll likely stare at the rock one of my friends placed in the garden with the word "Imagine" inscribed on it.

This is my first totally virtual Board meeting. The members are scattered everywhere ... Copenhagen, Chicago, Houston, Pittsburgh ... so we'll conference call it ... Skype if necessary ... all of us sitting in front of a computer screen communicating in real time ... emailing and instant messaging back and forth as we meet.

On Monday I emailed a 39 page attachment for everyone to review in advance providing financial statements, cash flow projects, fund development strategies, marketing plans, a web page and Face Book design, and the draft agenda for an International Symposium that will be in Philadelphia in October.

Today I will add to that ... there is conflict with one of the partners ... I've been invited to be one of twelve who will meet in Denver in September to offer policy initiatives to Congress on how government can better respond to natural disasters because I have overseen the evacuation of hundreds of homeless people from Savannah during a hurricane ... TWICE!

Then I bitched myself into a meeting with Philip Manango, who was President Bush's "Homeless Czar" in Washington D.C. (Thank you Jack Kingston for your help in arranging this!)

It was OK. Philip wears nice suits.

A couple of years later when another Hurricane obliterated the 9th ward of New Orleans he called me. "Hey Mike," he said in the nice sweet drippy voice of a politician who wants something, "so I guess you've seen the news. Katrina was bad."

"Yep," I say as I make my way through the Boston airport working on funding for Union Mission back home.

"So you've overseen homeless evacuations," he said, "I'm calling around talking to people who have been through it like you have. Any advice?"

I thought for a minute, standing still in front of a Legal's Seafood as people rushed by me.

"Well," I said, "wherever you send them, make sure they have drugs. They'll be there for a long time and a 3 day supply won't cut it. Then they'll go nuts and it'll get ugly."

"Oh wow," he said excitedly, "I hadn't thought of that. Thanks Mike!" and he hung up on me.

So I get to go tell that story now. Plus my answer to how to make the government response to natural disasters better ... drop the President, Speaker of the House, and Mitch McConnell's asses in the middle of whatever is going on ... then mobilize the military, FEMA and the Post Office to go get them and bring back whoever you find along the way!

I wish this wasn't a virtual Board meeting.

I really want to see their faces when they this.