Red Cross | Keep Calm and Harry On

There are many sides to Prince Harry and Harry-plays-with-kids-in-Africa is definitely one of my favorites. We all know what happened yesterday, the day we learned that the dashing prince can rock a purple apron better than anyone, but the charitable royal has been doing good in Africa for years.

In an effort to test your ability to handle high swoon levels two days in a row, let’s throw it back to 2005, the year this amazing photo was taken..

I have no idea what is happening here and I do not even care – if this photo can’t make you smile, well then that makes me sad. What I do know is this was taken during one of his follow-up trips to the landlocked nation of Lesotho after his gap year to see first-hand the progress that was made with the British Red Cross Lesotho Fund.

I know this has nothing to do with the royal family or anywhere close to the UK, but I wanted to use this amazing platform at my disposal to ask my readers worldwide for assistance. I’m sure by now you have all seen photos and videos of the devastation Hurricane Sandy brought upon the East Coast of the United States; maybe some personal stories have even reached your corner of the globe and hopefully, you have felt compelled to help in some way.

For those of you who do not know, I am a Jersey Shore girl. The broken homes, washed away beaches and destroyed boardwalks you see on the news – that is my home. My family was incredibly fortunate during the storm, we only lost a big tree in our yard. So many of my closest friends and some family members were not as lucky – the first floors of their homes are currently sitting on the side of the road while they live in hotels or with loved ones, waiting up to a month for FEMA and the insurance adjusters to come in and tell them how much their entire lives are worth.

The majority of my area is going on day six without power and the cold is beginning to set in. Tonight, we change the clocks for Daylight Savings Time and forfeit an hour of sunlight – critical to the warmth and light needed to cleanup this absolutely decimated area. For some towns, it may be a month or more before full power is restored, gas lines are turned on and residents can get back into their homes. In short, this place looks like a war zone – the National Guard trucks everywhere make that even more evident.

So, I ask all of my followers near and far to do whatever you can to help the Jersey Shore and surrounding areas hit hard by this storm. In addition to donating to the Red Cross, local first aid squads and police and fire departments are a great place to direct your assistance. Some of the most devastated areas include Monmouth and Ocean counties in New Jersey (towns such as Oceanport, Long Branch, Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach, Sandy Hook, Belmar, Avon, Asbury Park, Bradley Beach, Spring Lake, Seaside Heights, Long Beach Island, Atlantic City, Point Pleasant, Mantoloking) and Manhattan, Long Island, Staten Island, Rockaway Beach and Breezy Point in New York. If you have a way of sending clothes, food, water or supplies – do so. If you live close enough that you can volunteer – do that too.

What you have seen on the news does not even begin to describe what it is like here; it is one of those things you need to see to believe, but once you see it you will never believe it. Here are some of photos taken by myself and those close to me..