Katrina: DO something to help!

[Woochifer]

With the decidedly negative (and disappointingly political) tone of the threads that have been started thus far on Hurricane Katrina, I think the focus really needs to get back to the task at hand, which is helping the recovery efforts. Sitting from behind a keyboard and arguing about who's at fault just seems like a tasteless exercise with all the misery on the ground in LA, MS, and AL. At least we have the option of logging on and making whatever remarks we want to make. We're not the ones who are cutoff from the rest of the world, trapped by flood waters, deprived of water or food, or sitting in a shelter with the clothes on our backs as our only worldly possessions.

For anyone who wants to help, the American Red Cross will accept donations as small as $5. Thus far they have sheltered 135,000 people and have dispatched emergency vehicles from all over the country, including the local chapter in the Bay Area. With the number of people displaced and homeless, the Red Cross efforts will obviously be needed for a long time. In addition to donating money, disasters also put strains on blood banks, so if you live close to Red Cross or other local blood donation center, that's another way to help.

Summary of Red Cross recovery efforts (http://www.redcross.org/pressrelease/0,1077,0_314_4509,00.html)

http://www.redcross.org

Another problem that's only beginning to get reported is with pets who have been left behind. As a pet owner, I know how much a part of the family they can be, and thousands of familiies have been forced to leave their pets behind. Some pet owners already chose to euthanize their pets in makeshift gas chambers before getting transported to shelters where they cannot take their pets. The U.S. Humane Society has crews on the ground with search and rescue teams to recover stray pets. They're only now getting underway in New Orleans, and recovered 130 pets in Gulfport yesterday. They will also accept donations as small as $10 to assist their rescue efforts. Petfinder has posted a special Hurricane Katrina section on its site where owners can locate rescued dogs and cats.

AP article on the problem with abandoned pets (http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/04/katrina.pets.ap/index.html)

http://www.hsus.org

[bjornb17]

With the decidedly negative (and disappointingly political) tone of the threads that have been started thus far on Hurricane Katrina, I think the focus really needs to get back to the task at hand, which is helping the recovery efforts. Sitting from behind a keyboard and arguing about who's at fault just seems like a tasteless exercise with all the misery on the ground in LA, MS, and AL. At least we have the option of logging on and making whatever remarks we want to make. We're not the ones who are cutoff from the rest of the world, trapped by flood waters, deprived of water or food, or sitting in a shelter with the clothes on our backs as our only worldly possessions.

For anyone who wants to help, the American Red Cross will accept donations as small as $5. Thus far they have sheltered 135,000 people and have dispatched emergency vehicles from all over the country, including the local chapter in the Bay Area. With the number of people displaced and homeless, the Red Cross efforts will obviously be needed for a long time. In addition to donating money, disasters also put strains on blood banks, so if you live close to Red Cross or other local blood donation center, that's another way to help.

Summary of Red Cross recovery efforts (http://www.redcross.org/pressrelease/0,1077,0_314_4509,00.html)

http://www.redcross.org

Another problem that's only beginning to get reported is with pets who have been left behind. As a pet owner, I know how much a part of the family they can be, and thousands of familiies have been forced to leave their pets behind. Some pet owners already chose to euthanize their pets in makeshift gas chambers before getting transported to shelters where they cannot take their pets. The U.S. Humane Society has crews on the ground with search and rescue teams to recover stray pets. They're only now getting underway in New Orleans, and recovered 130 pets in Gulfport yesterday. They will also accept donations as small as $10 to assist their rescue efforts. Petfinder has posted a special Hurricane Katrina section on its site where owners can locate rescued dogs and cats.

AP article on the problem with abandoned pets (http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/04/katrina.pets.ap/index.html)

http://www.hsus.org

Good post Woochifer,

here in El Paso, Texas, our mayor opened shelter for 3000 victims, and our city is providing them with free food and education (including college education!) until all this gets sorted out. That seems like a step in the right direction, and hopefully more communities do this as well.

[markw]

You're right. We should walk it like we talk it.

I see other states have opened up themselves to accept some evacuees. I heard rumors thst Jersey is as well.

But, our church has several things going. First off, we have a volunteer group that's donating a truck full of daily essentials and is leaving today to drive down there. ...all done "in house", if you will.

Also, while they are down there, our people will be looking for an affected church which we will "partner" with. This means that we will provide, on an ongoing basis, funds for their rebuilding and, if needed, housing here in Jersey for some of their misplaced. ..and a return trip when the time is right.

Along with that, they took up a "love offering" for the needy and pledged to match every donation two for one. So, when you donate $100, the church donates $200 and the end result is $300. Now, considering that a one day, one time offering at two services for the tsunami, with no matching funds, we generated $46,000.

I would expect an awesome contribution.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I was so overcome by grief for the people of New Oleans that I just broke me down. My uncle and two aunts got out early because my mom begged them to leave. I am thankful to God that they listen to her. My mom told me that she felt this was going to be a diaster of epic proportions days before the storm hit land.

Since every morning I have to get up and work the early News shift, I have to watch this horror day after day. But I decided I wasn't going to sit around doing nothing. I first gave a huge donation to the Red Cross. Secondly I organized our stations relief effort, and got a huge response from my co-workers. Not only that, but I got at least 7 of my fellow engineers, and more of the general staff to commit to long term contributions to assist survivers in the long term. My passion seems to be catchy as many here at the station seem to be jumping on the bandwagon. I am really pleased!

[dean_martin]

We sent a truckload of bottled water over on Wednesday. The bottled water was left over supplies from Ivan that had been donated to my son's high school band. I and other band booster officers got together immediately and voted to send it to affected areas. It was so early after the storm the hardest part was finding someone who knew enough about the road conditions to get it there. We found a church group heading that way and sent it with them. It was contagious. The school's athletic dept had received a pallet of water also and they decided to send theirs too.

Churches here have partnered with churches in MS to provide supplies and money. It's more difficult for us to get to Louisiana from Alabama so we're reaching out to extreme south west AL and MS right now. Of course in our hearts we want to help the affected in LA and we are indirectly, but we're inspired by stories of help from other areas of our country.

My aunt and uncle lived in Metaire for most of their adult lives and then moved to an assisted living facility here last year. My aunt was a nurse at Charity Hospital and continued to volunteer there after retiring. They are extremely saddened. I have a cousin who evacuated with his family from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. They don't have power yet but they're safe. He works for the LA dept of transportation in traffic control and is extremely busy right now.

P.S. - I'm not suggesting this because I think anyone should get something in return for their help. It's just a practical no-nonsense reminder that your donations under most circumstances are tax deductible. You'll deserve a break come tax time.

[GMichael]

Our company is running a fund raiser. The two owners will each match the total we come up with, thereby trippling our total. Last week we had a blood drive but only came up with 15 quarts. We'll keep trying.

[Woochifer]

Wow! That actually made my day seeing the good work that some of you are involved in, whether that's individual contributions or organizing fundraising efforts through work or church. Very heartening to read all of this, and to see how much generosity there is just within the small circle of this discussion board. My wife and I made our donations to the Red Cross and the Humane Society over the weekend -- it just seemed like the least we could do from inside the comfort of our living room while spending a lazy long weekend. My wife also volunteers with the local humane society, and we'll see from their contacts what other organizations along the Gulf Coast need support in their rescue and recovery efforts.

[JSE]

It's really nice to see how many people are helping in their own personal ways. Just when you think the world is full on self involved, gready and indifferent people, we get to see the best in people. People are gladly sacrificing there own daily lives to help out however they can.

My wife and I have been helping the families of a couple of our friends out over the last week. One of our friends now has 33 people between her house and her brother's house staying with them. We have been helping out with "supplies". Mainly cooking and feeding them and giving them what ever spare clothes they can use. Many of them did not make much money to begin with and now they have nothing. No job, no house and funds will only last so long. We already had a Labor Day party planned at our lake house north of Houston so we invited everyone to come up for some BBQ and fun. They got a much deserved break from reality for a few hours and were able to relax and have some fun. Man, I cooked a lot of BBQ! And it was GOOD!

JSE