As an Oklahoma City resident, please allow me to offer the thanks of Oklahoma to all that have donated towards the relief efforts in all of the areas of Oklahoma that have been hit by tornadoes lately.  It is really a pleasure to be able to state that the first waves of assistance to the victims and emergency responders came from individuals and not government.  By its very nature, it takes time to mobilize something as large as a government agency and all of its entities.

To give an example of the private individual assistance, the day after the Moore tornado on the 20th of May, Glenn Beck and his Mercury One charity organization had delivered two semi-truck loads of needed supplies.  If I remember what I read correctly, Mercury One also accepted donations from radio show listeners from all around the country to the tune of around $2,000,000 in the days that followed.  A number of the "local" energy companies like Chesapeake Energy, Devon Energy, and other natural gas companies had all donated a lot of money.  Both Chesapeake and Devon contributed $1,000,000.

A call went out by the TV stations here in Oklahoma City that evening and cars were lined up from each of the stations for over a mile in about every direction.  Those were all local people driving by and dropping off food, water, gloves, shovels, and so many other necessary things.

More than anything else, thanks for all the prayers for our cities and our citizens.  Considering that both the Moore and El Reno tornadoes were rated as EF-5 events, the death toll has been surprisingly less than expected.

Thanks to all.

Terry

I heard it mentioned on the radio this morning that volunteers here in Oklahoma from as far west as California and as far east as the Carolinas.

Is this a great country, or what?

Terry