The pictures from New Orleans screamed at us for days on end. People trapped on the roofs of their homes, waving towels, waiting to be rescued. As one man remembered afterwards, "I waited, I waited, but no help came." He shook his head in disbelief. For some, in nursing homes and hospitals, help never arrived.

One long week after the first storm hit, emergency workers and relief supplies arrived in force; then average, ordinary people across the country stepped forward. By car, truck or plane, they arrived with water, food, clothing, and medical supplies. Folks in distant cities opened their homes to strangers who had lost everything. Children in far away states sold lemonade or baked cookies to raise money for the storm victims. In schools, churches, and synagogues, there were food and clothing drives.

Should we have been surprised that the men, women, and children with the least resources were left behind to survive the storm any way they could? Should we have been shocked to learn that 28 percent of New Orleans was living below the poverty line?

Across America, in cities large or small, 20 percent of the people who live there are often so poor that they don't have enough to eat, often don't have decent homes - if they have a home at all, and they certainly don't have access to medical care when they need it.

In New York City alone, there are currently 17,000 homeless children and it's estimated that one out of every five children in the city suffers from malnutrition. Asthma and other serious childhood diseases affect as many as 50 percent of these youngsters. Hundreds of frail elderly men and women must choose between buying food or paying for the medicines they need to stay alive.

But there are no television cameras to follow these homeless children around. There are no journalists interviewing these senior citizens, who sometimes must subsist by eating dog food. These folks didn't have the good fortune to be hit by a freak hurricane. The flood that overwhelms these Americans is the mundane one of poverty, of homelessness, of illness, and of despair. And like the victims of Hurricane Katrina, when government aid does arrive for these ordinary folks, it is often too little, too late.

We know all too well that none of us is immune from disaster. "There but for the grace of God, go I." Do people in need - in our own hometown - deserve less compassion, less assistance than the victims of Katrina?

If you'd like to do something to make a difference right here, where we live and work and shop, please support the efforts of the Interfaith Nutrition Network and the Coalition for the Homeless. These two nonprofit organizations have been providing food, shelter, and support services to local families in need for more than 20 years. Your tax-deductible contribution can be mailed to 7 Lee Court West, Great Neck, NY 11024. To make a donation of food or clothing, please call Dave Golbert at (917) 418-2451.

Your generosity sends a powerful message of hope and compassion to those who need it most.