Lando 
Posted on 08/30/2005 10:15:25 AM PDT by WestTexasWend
Edited on 09/02/2005 12:00:06 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
American Red Cross: PO Box 37243, Washington, DC, 20013, or online at www.redcross.org.
Salvation Army: Online at www.salvationarmyusa.org.
HOUSTON - Even before hurricane Katrina made landfall Monday, a massive relief brigade - one that officials hoped would be an equal match for a huge Category 4 storm - was being deployed to help residents along Louisiana's low-lying coast.
Among them: The Red Cross called upon some 5,000 volunteers, including some who drove in from Washington State. Members of Fark.com, an online discussion board, offered to host fellow forum participants who were fleeing Katrina. And FEMA, the federal disaster-response agency, moved its search-and-rescue teams - as well as stockpiles of ice, water, and food - as close as safety would permit.
The outpouring of aid, possibly the largest the US has ever seen to cope with a domestic natural disaster, stems from Katrina's imposing size as well as its destination so near the major population center of New Orleans.
Such early deployment of relief is unusual in disaster-aid work. But damage projections had been so severe - and New Orleans deemed so vulnerable in its dependence on a network of levees, canals, and pumps to keep dry - that President Bush on Saturday went ahead and declared an emergency in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to mobilize ahead of the storm.
Forecasters, scientists, and government officials have long worried that a hurricane could swamp the Big Easy, parts of which are 10 feet below sea level, and cause months of misery. As a result, relief agencies - public and private - moved with urgency once Katrina, which led to nine fatalities when it hit Florida Thursday as a much weaker storm, turned toward Louisiana.
"This storm is so large ... that it's like all the storms from last year rolled together and probably [those were] still not as bad," says Margaret O'Brien-Molina, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross in its southwest region. "So our coordinated efforts have to be huge."
Last year, the Red Cross mobilized 7,000 volunteers total to handle the aftermath from four major hurricanes. For Katrina alone, it is working on sending upwards of 5,000. Staging areas set up at both Houston airports allowed arriving volunteers to get off their planes and onto the road as quickly as possible.
Red Cross emergency response vehicles, or ERVs, are crucial in a situation like this, says Ms. O'Brien-Molina, because many skeptical New Orleans residents didn't take the mandatory evacuation seriously enough and then were unable to get far enough away because of jammed evacuation routes. In addition, the Red Cross warehouse in Baton Rouge is filled with key supplies, and 283,000 heater meals are on their way to the state.
Hot meals are also on their way - 80,000 per day - thanks to the Texas Baptist Men, a ministry with a history of disaster response. It plans to have available more than a dozen kitchens in Louisiana that can serve "one-pot meals," such as stew, chili, or chicken and rice. The kitchens are self-sufficient, with generators, water purifiers, and propane. To get to the most devastated areas, the group's members bring their own chain-saw units, along with chaplains and portable showers for those in need.
The Red Cross typically pays for the food, and the Texas Baptist Men prepare it. The Texas chapter alone has 18 mobile units. Seven are on their way, and the rest are on standby, says Gary Smith, disaster relief coordinator for the Texas Baptist Men in Dallas. "Earlier this year we mobilized for hurricane Emily," he says, "but it was nothing like this."
FEMA, meanwhile, had moved generators, ice, water, and food into the region for deployment after the storm. FEMA also brought in urban search and rescue teams from Tennessee, Missouri, and Texas, and set them up in Shreveport, La. Similar teams from Indiana and Ohio were staged in Meridian, Miss.
FEMA also deployed 18 disaster medical assistance teams to staging areas in Texas, Alabama, and Tennessee.
Louisiana deployed 3,500 Army National Guardsmen to help hurricane victims, and another 3,000 were on standby as of Monday morning, according to a Guard spokesman.
Statewide, 48 Red Cross shelters opened to residents in the storm's projected path. Hotels were packed as far away as Houston and Jackson, Miss. For New Orleans residents who couldn't - or didn't - leave, the city opened the Superdome. Katrina's 145-m.p.h. winds ripped away part of its roof Monday but as of press time had not forced an evacuation.
Other private and public aid - as well as volunteers - have been pouring into Louisiana over the past 48 hours. Office Depot says it will donate $1 million to the Red Cross, while Anheuser-Busch shipped 300,000 cans of drinking water to relief agencies in Louisiana and Mississippi. Wayne Elsey, president of Kodiak-Terra, a footwear company that donated thousands of pairs of shoes to South Asia after last year's tsunami, is setting up a "Katrina Relief Effort" fund.
The US Coast Guard shut down and evacuated its Gulf coast facilities, even as it sent more than 40 aircraft from the Eastern seaboard, and at least 30 small vessels, to the surrounding area. The units will be used for search-and-rescue operations and repairs of damaged waterways.
Though New Orleans has not taken a major direct hit from a hurricane since Betsy, a Category 3 in 1965, Katrina is being likened more to hurricane Camille in 1969, says Frank Lepore of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Before making landfall, the storm's winds exceed 200 m.p.h. but weakened to less than 150 by the time it hit just east of New Orleans.
American Red Cross: PO Box 37243, Washington, DC, 20013, or online at www.redcross.org.
Salvation Army: Online at www.salvationarmyusa.org.
pre-ping
There is a girl in the Crievewood babtist shelter that I want to take in but we need to find someone in nashville to bring her up to pennsylvania. You know a LOT of freepers and I was wondering if you would mind pinging your list?
I sent checks directly to the Catholic
archdiocese of New Orleans:
http://archdiocese-no.org/
and my favorite 'on line' Catholic parish in Picayune, Mississippi:
http://www.scborromeo.org/index2.htm
bump
This piece gave a good description of the pre positioning of forces. The left has purposely distorted reality to kill the president.
If you are a democrat......shame on you. Hatred for America is not a bad attitude.
If you want to help a family truly in need I know of one who has lost practically everything. There has been an account set up for their benefit. You can see them at a website located here:
http://www.genealogy.com/users/b/a/n/Kaaren-O-Bangert/
Knowing how generous all Freepers are, if all would just sent $5 it would be greatly appreciated. They are presently at a shelter in Hammond, LA.
The red cross is irresponsibly handing out debit cards to anyone who stands in a refuge line and claims Katrina status.
Fraud is rampant, one woman in Atlanta got arrested because her son told the family taking them in he went to a LOCAL school. The Red Cross is being irresponsible with the donations.... So
The Salvation Army which is feeding and clothing people is a far better choice.
The red cross is irresponsibly handing out debit cards to anyone who stands in a refuge line and claims Katrina status.
Fraud is rampant, one woman in Atlanta got arrested because her son told the family taking them in he went to a LOCAL school. The Red Cross is being irresponsible with the donations.... So
The Salvation Army which is feeding and clothing people is a far better choice.
http://www.bgct.org/TexasBaptists/Page.aspx?&pid=198
Texas Baptist is providing assistance to disaster victims in Louisiana and Texas shelters. Currently we have 33 units and approximately 500 volunteers responding including chaplains. Texas Baptist Men has been asked to provide assistance to those affected over the next four months.
more...
- How can you give?
From the President's address at the UN concerning Katerina:
***All together, more than 115 countries and nearly a dozen international organizations have stepped forward with offers of assistance. To every nation, every province, and every community across the world that is standing with the American people in this hour of need, I offer the thanks of my nation. ***
Lando
We all suffer from those moments of cynicism. Thought you might like to hear the good news for a change.
Red Cross says 91% goes directly to aid, 7% costs. I thought it was much lower. Any web site with a good, trustworthy list of charities ranked by expenses?
A good amount of info here, based on 2004 figures >>>
http://www.forbes.com/2004/11/23/04charityland.html
(Under "Sort Charities By:", select "committment"...that's the amount that's actually given to it's earmarked purpose and then they rank them, 25 groups per page.)
BTW, in Forbes's annual Best Charities rankings, the one group that appears consistently (usually in the top 10) is the Salvation Army. From 2003:
FORBES | Investment Guide
Our annual survey of 200 large charities picks 10 that shine.
"Salvation Army - Essentially its own religious movement, this helper of the down-and-out is the second-biggest gift recipient ($999 million) on our list. Meager salaries for officers and large numbers of volunteers help keep efficiencies very high and overhead low."
(Genuinely Needy by William P. Barrett, Forbes 12.08.03)
http://www.forbes.com/maserati/246.html
The REAL numbers the Red Cross should be providing are HOW MUCH or WHAT PERCENTAGE of monies directly donated to this SPECIFIC EVENT, the Katrina disaster, will go DIRECTLY to efforts and materials, etc. to aid KATRINA victims. I would guess that their "out" in THIS case is that SO MUCH MONEY is pouring in, that ANY report on amounts spent directly on KATRINA is going to sound enormous.......but the percentages are going to be closer to the 9/11 percentages. I would guess something like 60/40, with the 40 being "costs". You have to understand that the RED CROSS is a giant bureaucratic behemoth of an "aid organization", and ultimately is a political tool,being politically connected and media-sanctioned to the hilt.
Tens of millions donated to 9-11 victims ( or so the donors thought) actually went to general funds, and other
places that did nothing more than ensure that the Red Cross would always have hundreds of millions of dollars on hand for their NEXT effort, and the one after that, and the one after THAT. This is NO different from a "war chest" for a politican, or donations being given EITHER of our two major parties. Frankly , I wouldn't give the RC , OR either Dem or Repub party even ONE of my hard earned dollars.
BTT
ON TOPIC...
I personally prefer to donate to our church programs which offer relief and/
THE SALVATION ARMY
http://www.salvationarmyusa.org
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OFF TOPIC...
September 24, 2005
Note: The following text is an exact quote (minus the photos):
For more information contact:
Jeremy Reynalds at Joy Junction.
Tel: (505) 877- 6967 or (505) 400-7145
Sept. 24 2005
http://www.joyjunction.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mother Hubbard's Cupboard is Almost Bare at Joy Junction
(Albuquerque) A downturn in donations and capacity crowds is plunging Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, into a food crisis.
Joy Junction Founder and Executive Director Jeremy Reynalds said, "We are reaching out to the community hoping people will respond in the generous fashion that has kept Joy Junction alive for the last 19 years. We desperately need canned goods and all sorts of USDA approved meat straight from the grocery store."
Bares Shelves at Joy Junction
This year's crowds at Joy Junction have been unprecedented, Reynalds said. The shelter has averaged between 170 to 205 people nightly and the crowds show no signs of decreasing.
"Last night we sheltered and fed 184 needy folk," Reynalds said.
Completely Empty Shelves at Joy Junction
In addition, Reynalds added that the Joy Junction kitchen can urgently use donations of eggs, fresh vegetables such as onions, potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes. "We don't ever want to be placed in the position whereby we have no food to serve a good, hot nutritious meals to the many individuals who come to us in dire need of help. But the only way we can keep on helping is when the community allows us to do so," Reynalds said.
For additional information, please call Jeremy Reynalds at (505) 400-7145 or (505) 877-6967.
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