Like many of you, I've prayed and cried for the victims of the devastating hurricane, Katrina -- those in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast (Gulfport, Biloxi). Thousands upon thousands of people have lost loved ones, lost their homes, all their belongings and have nothing since this catastrophic event but the clothing they were wearing when it hit. Outside the Convention Center in New Orleans, the sidewalks were packed with people without food, water or medical care, and with no sign of law enforcement. Thousands of storm refugees had been assembling outside for days, waiting for buses -- that did not come. This is an horrendous situation.

PRAYER is great, BUT what would be most helpful would be to DONATE. They need money! Not items like clothing or food, but money. From what I understand, money donated to "Hurricane Relief" at American Red Cross is immediately turned over to the victims as debit cards which they can use to buy whatever they need.

It doesn't matter how much you send, but how can any of us sit back and do nothing? Just imagine, if everyone in the United States alone sent even one dollar -- how much money that would contribute to the victims. And, many of us can afford much more than one dollar.

Contributions would be most appreciated from anywhere in the world. They also say to check with your company to see if they're engaging in a "matching donations" program.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Some reputable organizations being recommended to make donations - which can be done via the Internet or by sending in a check marked "Katrina Relief" -- are:

• American Red Cross
  
  Click on the Red "Donate Now" button and then: "Hurricane 2005 Relief and other Related Events"
  You can also call 1.800.HELP.NOW (1-800.435.7669)
  
• United Way - Hurricane Katrina Response Fund
  
• The Salvation Army
  
• United Jewish Communities: Federation of North America
  
• United Freedom Corps - Hurricane Katrina Relief
  
  ... and let's not forget the animals:
  
• The Humane Society of the United States - Promoting The Protection of All Animals

You'll find all the information you need on the above sites, or select an organzation of your choice. Just be cautious because there has been news of many bogus fund-raising organizations popping up to collect money that will only end up in their own pockets. Be especially cautious about responding to E.mails soliciting donations.

Let's all band together and do what we can to help

Thank you.
Dearest
and
Power Surge

Dear Dearest:

I made a collection box at my place of employment (a very small school in Bronx, NY for children with special needs) and we collected over $200.00 which we are planning to send to the Red Cross. It's not a lot, but like you mentioned, every little bit helps.

Thank you for reminding us that we can all make a difference.

Garnet

(((GARNET)))

You go, girl...




JJ

American Friends

Have watched in horror as the news reports about Katrina dominates our news over here in UK. Can't take in that area destroyed is probably bigger than whole of UK?

I remember seeing one woman with her 2 young kids saying she had lost everything - all that materialistic stuff - but she and her children were safe that was what mattered. Kind of puts life into perspective doesnt it

You sent us so many messages of support from US when London bombs went off - I hope you know we are thinking of you - even if I dont hear our politicians saying too much about sending help - I hope they are

God bless

Mele

I will be sending funds to the Humane Society. I love animals and would never leave mine behind. I would smuggle them out as some people have. The articles in the Humane Society website bring tears to your eyes but hope to see so many people love their animals so much.

Mopsy,

I'm with you.

They showed footage on the news today of people going around in boats, collecting animals and bringing them to a safe place. One scene showed a dog standing on a roof all alone, completely surrounded by water, and I just broke down and wept. The animals must be so confused and sad, especially dogs, who above all just want to be by their loved ones' sides.

YEAH gals, Do not forget about the animals...here in Minneapolis, they are gathering supplies, I did not see any food for pets....really shocked me.The people that have picking up donations they were surprised that someone had brought these items as well. Dry food, canned food..are very much needed.

Not to mention toiletries. Pads and tampons, toilet paper, hair items..etc.

The organizations below were mentioned in a mailing from my University's Council on the Status of Women as social justice organizations working to get hurricane relief directly to the most disadvantaged/dispossessed populations in the region--which, of course, includes a disproportionate percentage of women and children.

I am not endorsing any of them--as always, before you make contributions to any charitable organization, satisfy yourself that their missions and administrative structures meet YOUR criteria for effective use of your contribution!! Text of the mailing follows beneath:

"To make sure the region's low-income and working people have a voice in their future, and to make sure the most vulnerable and overlooked among them get the help they need, earmark your donation for hurricane relief and contribute to as many of the groups below as you can.

You can help low-income and working people fight for their future at the Sparkplug Foundation, where you'll find an extensive list of grassroots/low-income/minority-led groups committed to community organizing and delivering immediate disaster relief. Among them: ACORN, the low-income community-organizing group, which has been active in New Orleans for a long time; a variety of local foundations committed to the poor, including the Greater New Orleans Foundation ; the Biloxi-based Gulf Coast Community Foundation; and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. The NAACP is also organizing relief.

Most relief workers say that money is the best gift right now, but for those who would like to send material aid--clothes, nonperishables, children's books--Sparkplug has a list of black churches that will be happy to have them. The list carries a disclaimer that Sparkplug has not verified the information, so don't call them--but you might want to make contact with groups before sending, especially the smaller, more freelance efforts, since conditions are changing so rapidly.

Women

With so much visible desperation capturing the headlines, the ongoing need for reproductive healthcare might not have occurred to you. But pregnancies that were crises before Katrina are even more impossible now. The National Network of Abortion Funds set up a special fund to help women obtain abortions, which is going to take some doing. New Orleans clinics are out of commission; Mississippi only has a single clinic for the whole state; and, of course, twenty-four-hour waiting periods and parental notification/consent laws are just the thing when you are homeless, transportationless and destitute. Battered women are also in even more danger now. All direct services in the Gulf Coast region have been suspended and shelters have been destroyed or evacuated, leaving thousands of women and children without assistance. The Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence will use the money to help DV survivors with basic necessities, medical treatment and relocation to safe communities.

Legal Aid

For more than a decade the Justice Center has served Louisiana's indigent defendants in capital cases and cases of wrongful conviction. Evacuated to Houston, staffers need help establishing a temporary office: Hurricane or no hurricane, the wheels of (in)justice grind on. You can make an online donation here. To donate cash, services or office equipment and supplies ("You name it, we need it"), contact Richard Bourke or Christine Lehman. More lawyers in need: New Orleans attorney Billy Sothern's nonprofit Reprieve needs funds to help it locate the families of those incarcerated or recently exonerated as a result of capital charges.

Medical

Operation USA sounds like a Rambo sequel, but it's actually a terrific medical nonprofit that has lots of experience with bringing medical aid to chaotic and desperately poor Third World countries--ideal preparation, it turns out, for the Gulf region. If you are wondering what has happened to our country's famous can-do spirit, send Operation USA a donation and watch them put it to work.

Faith-Based

Pastors for Peace, usually seen delivering humanitarian aid to Central America and being prevented by the US government from doing the same for Cuba, is mobilizing a caravan to bring nonperishable goods to Louisiana and Mississippi. They need money for gas and volunteers to organize drop-off points in selected states. E-mail them for details. Send checks to: IFCO/Pastors for Peace, 402 West 145th Street, New York, NY 10031. To make a credit card donation, call communications director Lucia Bruno at (347) 423-4330.

This Just In

Virtually as I write, black community activists, from civil rights veterans like Curtis Muhammad of the New Orleans-based Community Labor United to young graduates of Bob Moses's Algebra Project, are forming a New Orleans People's Committee to demand accountability from FEMA and justice for the displaced, to get help to the most neglected and to make sure evacuees have a say in rebuilding. Checks should be made out to The People's Hurricane Fund and mailed to:

The Young People's Project
99 Bishop Allen Drive
Cambridge, MA 02139."

For anyone wishing to get more detailed background information on non-profit agencies and organizations of any kind, the GuideStar website is a terrific resource. Thousands of non-profits nationwide have mission statements and their financials data-banked on the site.

Thanks so much for sharing all this!


JJ

Hi Mele {UK} and all other Ladies;

Canada - We're there for you !!! {Cut and Past from Cdn News}


Canadian relief taskforce steams into Gulf
CTV.ca News Staff

Temporarily delayed by Hurricane Ophelia, a Canadian taskforce carrying relief supplies for Hurricane Katrina victims steamed into the Gulf of Mexico Sunday.

"We have rounded the bottom of Florida and are now proceeding to the north in the Gulf of Mexico towards Pensacola, Florida," the head of the taskforce, Commodore Dean McFadden, told CTV's Question Period.

The four vessels were forced to head further out into the Atlantic to avoid Ophelia's ferocious winds and swelling waves. The diversion added an extra day to the vessels' trip.

The ships will unload their supplies in Pensacola before steaming toward Biloxi, Missippi.

"After we have all floated our humanitarian supplies and put those into the American distribution pipeline, I will move the ships to anchor off Biloxi to be able to get out work parties ashore there," said Commodore McFadden.

The ships are carrying tonnes of relief supplies, including everything from lumber, chainsaws and generators to 6,000 diapers, blankets and 300 cots.

In the immediate aftermath of the disaster there was a great deal of confusion and, although, the taskforce was put together hurriedly, McFadden said the Canadian effort is bringing exactly what the Americans need.

"We put the loads in the ship and the task group together in very quick order and in some cases made what we thought were our best estimates of what the needs would be," he said.

"I think we've found out what we loaded was almost exactly what the United States eventually got to the point of formally asking for. So the loads in the ships are right to the requirement that the United States has identified from the humanitarian perspective."

Kudos to Air Canada from Bush

The Canadian response to Katrina was not just limited to the Federal government. Air Canada answered the call of the distressed, too. It was the first foreign carrier to land in New Orleans delivering water and supplies and ferrying victims to safety.

For that, the airline was singled out by U.S. president George Bush at a news conference.

Air Canada chief Robert Milton said his airline was happy to help.

"Frankly, from our standpoint, from the standpoint of Air Canada and our employees, I'm glad we were able to make a difference, and very quickly," said Milton, who has dual Canadian/U.S. citizenship.

The Air Canada chief said the airline's contribution was put together as the Labour Day weekend was getting underway.

"Late Thursday night the U.S. airline industry was mobilized to conduct the airlift out of New Orleans and by Friday morning we were on the way," said Milton.

Milton, who was on the scene with the Air Canada effort, said early relief efforts in the city were chaotic.

"It was really a situation of despair on that first flight out," he told Question Period.

"We had over 30 people in wheelchairs which had to carried up...these people had not had any care or very much food for days and so to be honest, the smell was quite awful.

"The conditions of the people were really quite tragic. A lot of people with severe handicaps, disabilities...missing limbs, blood stained clothes, no shoes."

I'm sure we'll do more - my husband is a High Power Electrician by Trade and I am sure He or some of his Work buddies will be down there when you get to the point that you need them. We know of quite a few fellas who have helped out in Florida a couple of times.

Take Care of Yourselves, Be Well.

Linda
Linderful