Soapbox: Norwegian Tragedy... Reach Out

Like everyone, I have been both heartbroken and shocked at the recent tragedy in Norway.  I just sent one of mine off to a week at camp. How many hundreds of thousands of us in the United States do that each summer?  It is almost too much to bear to try to put myself in the place of any of th Norwegian parents and families who sent their children, their siblings, off to camp only to get the news of the shootings last weekend.  For today's soapbox I challenge all of you reading this to take a step to making the world smaller.  Think of those Norwegian families as our neighbors.  They are.

Take the few moments needed to send them a message that we care.  We wouldn't hesitate to send a card or make a phone call or send an email if it had happened a family on our street. Even if we had never met them we would reach out. Let's shrink the world and treat the people of Norway like neighbors that we just haven't had the chance to meet. Reach out to them. Think what it would mean to you to get word from around the world if it had happened here.

Here are some choices and below them are the addresses of the five Norwegian Embassies in the U.S. and which states they sere.  Do it... please.

1. Send a message to the Norwegian Embassy in Washington on Facebook.
2. Send an actual real sympathy card... in the good old fashioned mail [see contacts below].
3. Make a phone call to an embassy and leave a message that you care [same contacts below].
4. Have all your friends sign a card and send it.
5. Have your faith congregation all sign a card and send it.
          
The Norwegian Ambassador's name is Ambassador Wegger Chr. Strommen

Addresses, Emails, Phone and Contact Info---


The Consulate General in New York serves New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia.

Royal Norwegian Consulate General New York
825 Third Avenue, 38th floor
New York, NY 10022
Phone: (212) 421-7333
E-mail: cg.newyork@mfa.no

The Consulate General in Houston serves: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Florida and Alabama as well as Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Jamaica.

Royal Norwegian Consulate General Houston

3410 West Dallas Street
Houston, TX 77019
Tel.: (713) 620-4200
E-mail: cg.houston@mfa.no

The Consulate General in San Francisco serves: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Royal Norwegian Consulate General San Francisco
Office hours for visa: 9:30 am - 12 noon. (Wednesdays closed). Note: phone enquiries are also limited to the visa hours. Office hours for passports: 09:30 am -11:30 am and 13:30 pm -15:00 pm, all weekdays.
20 California Street, Sixth Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111-4803 USA
Phone: (415) 986-0766
E-mail: cgsfo@mfa.no

The Norwegian Embassy in Washington, D.C. serves: Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Bahamas.

Royal Norwegian Embassy  Washington, DC

2720 34th Street NW
Washington, DC  20008
Tel:  (202) 333-6000
Fax:  (202) 469-3990
E-mail: emb.washington@mfa.no

Image Credits: unenlightenedenglish.com