This post started out with a parent being proud of her child for wanting to help by emptying her piggy bank. I would be proud too. Maybe we should all see the world from the eyes of a child and feel and do what our hearts tell us. Living here in South Florida and having two hurricanes going directly over head (not even close to the devistation from the Tsunami)I can't imagine what they are going through. Four months later you can't drive down the road without seeing blue tarps on the roofs of houses (we can't buy shingles), many road signs still are not up, buildings destroyed, insurance companies aren't helping, People trying to put theirs lives back together. Many senior citizens can't afford the repair costs. January 3rd, the elementry school down the road just opened back up. It's a very slow process. Most frustrating of all,,,is the greed of some people. In Miami-Dade County FEMA paid out $21.5 million dollars for hurricane relief, MIAMI WAS NOT EFFECTED BY THE HURRICANES. They had nothing more then a thunderstorm, yet people lined up and claimed all kinds of things and it was paid out. That sickens me. (ELECTION YEAR). Miami-Dare actually got more money then the counties that were hit by the storms. Also, after the storm we had thousands of guys here working, coming from many states and alot from Canada to restore electric, phones, water. I think we all need to take a step back and look at the situation for what it is. For many of the victims of the flood life will never be the same. They need help, no matter where it comes from, your personal piggybank or the reserves of many nations. The United States is a powerful and wealthy country, it is a political enity, and will step up to the bat and face obligations. I don't believe they will be writing out checks to people in other countries the way they did in Miami. Charity begins at home. Propaganda is used to gain power for cause. For the most part people around the world understand earthquakes. Don't let it scare you. Those that believe the United States is to blame, are living in parts of the world where free thought, education and technology is not available to them, maybe they should be next on our global list to help. In the course of world history the United States is a very young country, one that in many ways is like a spoiled teenager. I have been very fortunate in my life, thanks to an education and the oppritunity to do and be whatever you want in this country. It was not given to me. I'm in my 40's, retired, don't plan on going back to work ever, and in that 1% tax bracket that is a sore spot for many americans. I do NOT believe we are over taxed and I strongly belive if you owe the tax,pay it. (They will get you if you don't...LOL)We travel quite a bit and make it a point to do something positive wherever we go. As Strudel said until you spend time living and working in Third world countries you can't grasp the struggles that these people face in their daily lives. Many of those people depend on agriculture to live, I would think on this forum that alone should say something. Peg

Around here the corn burning stoves went into houses like crazy. Corn seems to burn well, much less work than wood, little mess left for cleaning out. Takes small amount of corn to keep the WHOLE house warm. I was rather surpised at how enthusiastic the new owners are over corn stoves. Transportation may not be the whole cost, but tractors are fueled with gas and oil, to work the soil and bring in the crops. Tractors are not especially efficient in fuel usage, cost a bunch to produce those crops. Costs that farmer has to pass to buyers so farmer can at least pay his bills. Hay is supposed to be costing more, I know the truck to go get it runs on fuel that has more than doubled in cost since last year. Much equipment is diesel powered, even costlier than gas. Diesel has always been cheaper to produce, now they just WON'T produce it, keeping cost high. Bush and his Oil friends are making plenty of money. Keeping cost of doing business for truckers very high. Consumers pay that extra. I don't know if Ethanol is going to be cost effective as a fuel. We have a local plant being built 5 miles away, 60 new jobs in a very hard hit job market area. Everyone is excited, but for corn fuel to be useful, it can't cost more to produce than it costs to sell. At least the farmers can sell their product, so many were just losing money planting corn. Prices just never got where you could turn a profit. I buy our grain, mixed at a local mill. No commercial bagged food for the animals so I am not seeing those costs. We use quite a bit of corn in the horse feed, prices seem to be staying higher than other years. I think the oats come from Canada. Not sure why they are not local, we do have oat production. Dry dog food prices are higher, even on the junky stuff. Again, I would point at mostly fuel prices to raise a crop, then transportation to get products to market.

Welcome to the forums and thanks for not really doing anything before asking for suggestions. Too many people would have waited until they dumped a few truck loads of junk and then asked for advice. Is there a house on the property now? That much soil is guaranteed to change your drainage to something much different from what it is now. Are you sure you want to do this? Can you post a picture so we can see what you're dealing with? Usually there's nothing wrong with a slope. Maybe someone will have a different way of looking at your issue that you have not thought about. For new construction they first build a pad for the building, build the building, then call in a "finish grader" to prepare the soil and profile it according to the landscape architect's drawings. The finish grader will use a tractor with a box blade attached to the back. A really good finish grader can prepare 5 acres (flat) in a morning if there are no trees, sprinklers, or concrete in the way. If you want it profiled it might take the rest of the day to do 5 acres. An average driver might take twice that long to do the job, but that's about the limit of the job.

I think you have to canvass on the price of the materials needed in the raising up of your house. You can ask them the estimated cost of materials and labor. At least ask 3 to 5 person so that you can compare how much will it really cost you.