People should help locally before helping globally

The disastrous  state of Haiti has engulfed the news for over a month now and is overshadowing the economic crisis in the United States.

Relief efforts are televised everyday and even here on campus, people are raising money for Haiti and neglecting to take care of problems in our own backyard.    

The United States is in a recession and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate is at 10.6 percent for the entire country and 8.8 percent for Arizona.  
These statistics do not account for people who have stopped looking for work.

If you account for individuals who have stopped trying to find work, the national unemployment average would be around 17 percent.

This means  almost one out of every five Americans is currently out of work.  
The problems of foreign nations are not and should not be as important as our responsibility we have to the thousands of Americans losing their homes every day.
These people are struggling to make ends meet.

I support the United States sending 10,000 troops to assist the clean up and rebuilding in Haiti, but sending money is unreasonable.  

The U.S. government has sent $100 million and there has been another $528 million sent privately from charities throughout the  United States.

Imagine what $600 million or more could do for our down economy.  
Our priorities should be our neighbors here before helping people in other countries.  
Instead of sending $1,000 raised locally to help people in Haiti, why not donate  the money to a local food bank and help people in need locally?  

There were television spots and telethons that formed almost overnight after the news of the Haiti earthquake.

I have yet to see telethons to help the homeless.

It seems that people are quick to help other countries when disaster hits- but you can never find someone to help problems locally that are just as important as problems in Haiti.

There was a recent effort in the Student Center to raise money for Haiti- we need more students raising money for local food banks or community-based organizations.

As a country, we need to band together and help other Americans so someday the United States can be the great country she once was.  

Once we are out of the recession and people are finding jobs again we can begin sending money to other countries that need it.