What is your city doing for the victims of Katrina?

Mary Kay Inc in Dallas gave $1 million cash for starters, others are spending their weekend raising add'l funds.

Amarillo has declared a state of emergency so that they can accept 500+ refugees. They are expected at any time. One fellow in Amarillo has already given a job to a man married with two young girls. Said if he doesn't go back to NO, he could have the job as long as he wants it!

Plains Transportation donated a truck & driver to take supplies down to Bryan (College Station) Food Bank, which has been emptied to send relief to NO, and then will be used for relief to refugees. Trucks have been sent by High Plains Food Bank & Cornerstone Outreach to the NO Food Bank and to a church shelter in NO.

Another truck is leaving tomorrow with water. Amarillo National Bank started a fund with $20,000, for the Food Bank. And United stores are accepting donation add-ons at the cash register.

Wow, plenty is being done. But i can' thelp but think of those who are dying waiting for relief, trapped in shelters. Only the mighty hand of God can save them, & I pray it is done with no further deaths. Our country is an example to the world, and we need to stay united and get these people ot safety.

http://www.thevictoriaadvocate.com/front/story/3014552p-3494961c.html

Look at the list at the bottom - my town is hosting a victim shelter - I'm absolutely floored at all of the businesses that are offering "Freebies".

:) wow ... I love living here...

NH and VT have had statewide contribution centers open for the past few days. There are tractor trailers being filled with purchases.
The news last night said people are buying skids of bottled water, diapers, canned goods, etc and bringing them to these contribution centers.
This morning our local radio station said that 30 TT's filled with food and needed supplies are headed south today with a State Police escort all the way there. I'm sure there will be more.
I know many of the other states are probably also doing the same or giving help in another way.
There have been many tears shed and prayers said for our friends in the south and such a deep feeling of helplessness as we watch the horror on the news.

wow Angel & snow!

i esp thought the free haircuts were thoughtful!

so much help is on the way, i hope they can organize it when it gets there. more prayers on the way too!

refugees are expected to arrive in Amarillo soon!

tf

At an unused school about 1/2 mile from us they have set up housing for 11 families. The building was a school and then they started using it for an administration building for all the Troup County schools. A couple of years ago the city of Lagrange and the Troup Co. school system voted to merge. Thiis left this building empty. I was listening to the radio where a local radio station and a local tv. station were combining to get donations. They mentioned a man that I didn't know that went there and installed shower stalls for all the families. The local Red Cross is working out ot the same building to collect donations out of the same building.

More food and supplies going down (local folk). If you see "Two Men and A Truck" next week--came from our town :)
Students are coming up and getting admissions to schools including Univ. of WI.
Families being brought in by agencies, staffed by volunteers and taking donations. I would bet a lot of wam clothes will be donated-some of my sweatsuits heading out-the weather is So different here.
I feel so bad for that part- :(

It will be chilly at night even here before these folks are all settled, and a lot of people, especially older folk with poor circulation, like wearing sweatshirts and sweaters in the air conditioning. Houston is the most air conditioned city in the world - and that is NOT an exaggeration!! Your sweatshirts will not go to waste.

San Antonio is housing a large number of evacuated people. I have been busy with getting new shoes, new socks and clothes (summer as well as winter) ready to take to the old Kelly Air Force base which is the largest center. We had a bunch of these items in our storage unit and I am thankful that I am able to donate them to people who really need them. As I was going through boxes in the extreme heat in the large storage unit, I could not help but think how those caught up in this devasting situation have suffered. I will be volunteering to assist in any way that I able to do this week and hope that others will volunteer their time as well.

This message was edited Sep 4, 2005 3:36 PM

The church camp, i went to as a kid is taking some. Think they said could house about 4000, i just never thot about the church camps around the US.

Our pastor got a call early this morning from Ft. Chaffee BEGGING for people to come out and help at the base. A group of them met, including my dh and dad, at the church and I assume they are at Ft. Chaffee now helping. I didn't go because I still have this stupid headache and was dizzy when I got up this morning. I think I was dizzy from taking too much headache medicine during the night. It's getting better so I'm sure I will be helping starting tomorrow or Tuesday.

I will also be cleaning out my closets and extra room of stuff that I was planning on selling at a garage sale. No junk, just stuff they might be able to use in a new home. They are begging for everything at the distribution center they've set up.

Yesterday friends of mine from Lafayette went by help them to cooked a huge big pot of beans and rice at Cajundome oh they were so happy to have a good hot meals that they look enjoy the beans and rice. I feel good to hear that..

This message was edited Sep 5, 2005 12:38 PM

I am going to put the box of my animals stuff to give to for the children need toys to make them happy and some toys too.

Great idea REDROSE. Children need cuddley things. And things to take their minds off the tragedy.
sidney

I'm wondering when Wisconsin is going to bring in evacuees.

This message was edited Sep 6, 2005 4:39 PM

Jasmerr, the ones headed for Madison are supposed to be here the end of the week.
Note to folks-many "little local " going ons' are helping-but you need to check local papers. One of the Madison radio stations and a moving company ( Two Men and a Truck) are collecting items at the 2 largest local shopping malls and will be delivering after Wed. Luckily, I remembered the date and location (shopping mall was not as hard as " Wed" to remember :).!!!
This is legitimate-but local--easy way to donate; as they are doing the delivery of stuff that might be hard to pack/send, but needed.
I bet there is one in most every community...folks are eager to help-but often stymied on how to do it.

Thanks, Marcia. Haven't watched much local news lately.

Jody

Our city has set up a big checkin center for the refugees. We're using an old car sales building. The refugees can come there and sign up for everything they need--housing, jobs, a post office box (to received their govt checks and other mail), social security, food stamps, medicaide, everything!

I volunteered there today helping people sign up for FEMA assistance. These poor people! They are just dumped in some place they've never even heard of and they know no one, and then there's all this red tape. They spend hours filling out all the paperwork. They looks tired and scared. And the stories are awful.

One lady lost her husband in the hurricane. How she could sit there and not burst into tears, I don't know. I think she's just tired and numb and still stunned. She and all the others like her are just so courageous. You know they're terrified--where will they live, how will they feed themselves, when will they find work, will life ever be normal again?

One man I checked in lost everything--his home, his business, both vehicles. He was trapped in his attic for 3 days before he was rescued.

One lady was a single mom with two daughters. She barely made enough to make ends meet before. And now she has nothing.

I spent the afternoon trying not to cry. Just looking at the faces of the people sitting in the lobby waiting so patiently for help would make ya cry.

Our check in center has been such a big help to these folks. Most do not have transportation. So they can get all their business done in one building. Are other states setting up checkin centers like this? We've never had to do anything like this, EVER. How do you other folks handle these crises?

NancyAnn

My husband works for Gerber and as of today, they have sent 5 semi trucks of baby food to Louisiana and one to Arkansas (presumably Ft. Chaffee since it's so close). I imagine they are in the process of sending many more out.

We're getting several bussloads of refugees from Ft. Chaffee. I wonder if they're shipping us some of that baby food too? Isn't it amazing how everyone is pitching in? America at its finest!

A group of radio stations in the LaCrosse and surrounding area organized a relief effort at the LaCrosse Center where people could drop off donations.
They raised $400,000.00!!!

The Electric Coop at Richland Center organized relief efforts and delivered a semi-load of bottled water and Gatorade to a rural area near Franklinton, Louisana, just north of Lake Pontchartrain, and are sending another semi-load of goods, as well as electric linemen next week.

A pet groomer in RC has organized a Pet Wash and Groom a few days this week and is donating all proceeds to the Red Cross for Hurricane relief.

For the first time in over a hundred years, Mexican troops are entering Texas. The Mexican government has sent a large convoy to San Antonio which will arrive this morning to assist with huricane Katrina relief and to provide needed supplies. They will set up a cooking area that will be able to supply hot meals to at least 7, 000 people per day. Thank you Mexico. The evacuees I have met here in San Antonio are very grateful for the help they are receiving. Many have sat outside the building at Kelly and observed the constant stream of local citizens bringing clothes, toys, books, radios, food, diapers, matresses, sheets, etc. The Salvation Army is to be applauded for the manner in which it is receiving and distributing needed items at Kelly and other locations. More volunteers are needed to provide assistance. In Texas, call 211 and give your location so that you are able to receive information about evacuee locations, needed items and where to take them, how to volunteer, etc.

It is so nice to read these every day.

I heard the results of the collections from the radio stations yesterday. They are still collecting but as of yesterday, were sending down $200,000 and 7 semi trucks full of goods. I am not sure if I understood the last part correctly, but I think they were not sure where to send them yet.

My husband drives down sort of a side street to go to work. He called me from his cell yesterday to tell me that he saw Red Cross trucks and buses full of people, as well as a news team. I am really surprised that we have some of the victims here. They are SO far from home. :( Some will wait to go back and other have homes here while others still, are headed to other places, even further north. Apparently there are about 50 people here and 16 just came from Baton Rouge. http://www.wcpo.com/news/2005/local/09/08/smitherman.html

I know some shelters are crowded so they're shuffling people around to any available space in any city. Can you just imagine being shuffled from place to place when all you want to do is go home and grieve for your losses?

"Home" is such an important place in our lives. When everything goes wrong, all we want to do is get to our safe zone--Home. And many of these people are getting further and further away from their homes. Even if they have no place to go to, they still long for home--their quiet, private place where they can lock the rest of the world out. It's so sad!

NancyAnn

NancyAnn, I couldn't agree more :-(

i postedd some info tha may help all of us:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/544010/

tf

We have raised money all around town, from our schools and churches and sending truck loads of supplies to the gulf area. We also are expecting more people to arrive any time and have set up shelters for them and preparing our schools for the new children when they arrive.