Various groups have moved into action in the wake of the Gulf oil spill (see our photo gallery) to aid newly unemployed fisherman and deck hands. But one coalition has a novel fundraising idea: Auction off some of that skimmed, plentiful crude.
At HorizonRelief.org, the concept couldn’t be simpler: Donate $25 or $100 and receive a fourth of an ounce of oil and marsh water recovered from the Gulf. Spend $1,000 and you’ll receive one of the numbered “1000 Bottles of Hope.” All proceeds will go to local workers who are unable to petition BP or the federal government for assistance.
“Plant owners, fishermen, and companies affected have easy access to various forms of aid from BP or the Federal Government,” the site says, “But the deck hands, plant workers, and day laborers of the seafood industry are not so easily supported. The irony of those who are most vulnerable being hit hardest is one that accompanies most disasters and this oil spill is certainly no exception.”
Visitors to HorizonRelief are also able to make straight donations, without taking home any vials of oil.
It’s hard to tell what’s more inspiring or haunting: The notion of entrepreneurial Gulf workers co-opting these black plumes to build themselves a brighter future, or the fact that this spill has already achieved such scope and dimension that a mere sample could endure as a true slice of history.
Meanwhile, the spill continues, with no end in sight.
