Faith-based initiatives

With no red tape, churches act quickly - The Clarion-Ledger :

"Pastors have put out the word, and supplies show up by the ton in rented or borrowed trailers. Dozens of groups have arrived with tons of merchandise purchased by church members. Some are organized. Others simply head for the hurricane-ravaged area and distribute their supplies.

"Volunteers from Covenant Church in Mobile arrived Friday and passed out $6,000 worth of supplies purchased by a member who owns an insurance company.

"'They're able to pack things and move,' said Col. Joe Spraggins, Harrison County's civil defense director.

"The federal government eventually will deliver 34,000 military 'meals ready to eat' per day, but churches, unhampered by protocols, accounting procedures and bureaucracy, move faster. Forced to keep accounts and issue orders, the federal, state and local governments are slow to organize and act."

No doubt some professional do-gooder will object that by failing to coordinate their activities through the "proper" channels these well-meaning amateurs guarantee that that some supplies will go to places that don't need them and some places that need them will not get them. True enough, but it begs the question whether the professionals are any better at allocating aid and delivering it where and when it is needed. The red tape and record keeping which they must do to keep some of the goodies from being stolen pretty well assures that their response will be far from optimal as well.