Freepers, Let's Roll! It's time to help Katrina's victims and we should go first. (Vanity)

Vanity | September 1, 2005 | hocndoc

[hocndoc]

Freepers, help me come up with concrete actions, consistent with our conservatism and the true spirit of America, to blunt the homelessness, unemployment and possible hunger, disease and social breakdown that Katrina left in her wake.

Our group has influenced and ensured the fairness of elections. We are watchdogs for the press and brave extreme heat and cold to stand up for our Country, our Soldiers and human life. Our prayer groups have seen miracles happen. We can make a difference for the future of our children by acting this week.

We all want to give what we can, and we're waiting during these times of confusion. Like the wandering homeless on I 10, we don't know where to go. We can give to the Red Cross or to the Salvation Army, etc., but that may not be enough for some of us who want to ***do*** something!

Many of us are lucky enough to have a spare bedroom, an RV parked in the alley, or even guest houses that the kids aren't living in this month. We need to open our homes to the homeless and help those without jobs find work so that they, too, can help others as well as themselves.

I remember the flood in 1998. Our neighbors loaned us their guesthouse. I think their kindness, and that of our church members who helped clean up the mud, were what kept me from a complete nervous breakdown.

I'm not suggesting that we drive up to the Superdome and take just anybody into our homes. Use the connections that you've already got in place to help find trustworthy guests.

This morning, my husband emailed the listserve for the National Pawnbrokers Association to let them know that we will take in one family for the duration and that he could probably help by providing a job for one or two pawnbrokers. We may end up squeezing in 2 families for a while - but that's better than the Astrodome or a motel room in a stressed area. We are fortunate to have the room and my husband always needs good employees.

If you don't have friends or family in the areas affected by Katrina, call your church's national charity, your professional associations, and your unions. Ask for references, etc.

Maybe we could even make a list of Freepers who were and those able to help - what could be better than 5 years or so of FR posts to judge someone?

We keep hearing that the homes that are intact now shelter 4 or more families. I'm sure that your basement family room would look like a palace to one of the families.

If you don't have extra room or a job, work through these associations to focus the aide you can give.

[momf]

Could this site be a temp housing available site? And/or a job offer site?

Our county is sending an 18 wheeler of bottled water. I'm trying to locate a bunch of showers - either portable of camping type...by now they would love a washcloth probably!

[OldFriend]

Check with the authorities in Houston and see how you can help.

[texan75010]

We have a family of 4 staying with us. Cash and a job are the two biggest needs. The kids are being enrolled in to school, they need clothes and materials. The parents need a supply of cash to get in to an apartment and pay the deposits. A job is their #1 need right now so they are looking.

We are doing all we can for them. It will take a while before they will be out on their own but that's the goal.

[tiki]

I wish someone would volunteer to help us raise money for Freepers who have been affected by this.

We have a nice travel trailer and we have a few extra bedrooms but we are awfully far away and would be pretty picky. But I love children and I have plenty of toys and swings. If someone needs to be in New Mexico then let me know.

[WestTexasWend]

Great idea!

Ping to FMC.

[TXBSAFH]

These are Americans in dire need. We ahve to help them and do what we can. This is a good thread to get ideas and brain storm.

[teenyelliott]

This was posted on another thread, and I thought it was great.

"I live in the area where the evacuated families have fled, near Alexandria, Louisiana.

I suggested in another thread that if someone really wants to know where their charitable donation is going, that they "adopt" one of the families who have fled to this part of the state; i.e., Rapides and Avoyelles Parishes (counties).

For example, you could contact the Central Louisiana Red Cross in Alexandria, and ask them to identify a family with the greatest need, then contact the motel they're staying in and put their lodging tab on your own credit card. (In the alternative, if the family you want to help has no lodging, perhaps you could offer to pay the expense of getting them out of a shelter and into a hotel when space becomes available.) Then, you could FedEx a "care package" to their motel consisting of a Wal-Mart gift card and those little gift certificate booklets for fast food chains such as McDonald's or Burger King (specifically do NOT send Dunkin' Donuts booklets, because their only Louisiana franchise is in downtown New Orleans).

Although Wal-Mart itself has made a substantial donation to the Salvation Army, a gift card is much more helpful to a needy family. In this part of the country, Wal-Mart SuperCenters are huge 24-hour megastores which typically comprise not just the department store but also a full-service supermarket, automotive service area and a Murphy USA discount gas station. The Wal-Mart gift card can be used to purchase everything your chosen family might need, from personal hygiene to meals to an oil change.

The Rapides Parish School Board in Alexandria is now instructing evacuated parents to temporarily register their children in our schools, because it appears that families will be stranded in our area for as long as a month. Their homeless coordinator's name is Mrs. Nita Elks, and perhaps she might be able to help you target a family in need.

In Avoyelles Parish, the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana operates Paragon Casino Resort in Marksville, and they have opened its Mari Center as a shelter, but it's completely full, as are all shelters in the parish. Perhaps a tribal elder might be able to identify a specific family being housed in the casino's convention hall. Paragon's main switchboard number is (800) 946-1946.

These are just suggestions, but they are at least ways you could provide constructive solutions to the catastrophic problem we've got going on here. Thanks for caring about the good people of Louisiana!"

46 posted on 08/30/2005 5:52:04 PM CDT by buickmackane (reporting from Pineville, Rapides Parish, LA)

[freeangel]

Save

[hocndoc]

http://www.katrinahousing.org./ here's a reference on that other thread.

I did search, but didn't see this.


Admin, could we block this one, combine it with the other, then make it "sticky" on the top? Maybe above the poll on the side bar?

I will volunteer to help coordinate offers in Texas. Can I get volunteers in other states?

[shadeaud]

You're truly a wonderful person.

[MamaB]

I belong to a yahoo counted cross stitch group. We are collecting supplies to donate. I have 2 companies who are donating supplies. I would be absolutely devastated if I lost all the items I had done so this is a way to help my fellow cross stitchers.

[Billthedrill]

One thing that is nearly always in need and doesn't take very long - donate blood. The cleanup in this thing is only beginning and a whole lot of hospitals are going to need some serious help before it's over.

[tricky_k_1972]

Immediate enrollment assistance request

The University of Nebraska’s campuses will do everything possible to accommodate college students displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

For those students eligible for admission who are unable to return to your home campuses for an indefinite period of time, we will immediately accept as many as we can at our campuses. We will allow you to enroll this fall at in-state tuition rates, and provide assistance in quickly registering you for classes, finding housing and whatever additional help you need. Classes began August 22 in Omaha, Lincoln and Kearney, so incoming students will have a reasonably small number of class days to make up. This is temporary assistance, and when your institutions are able to re-open, we will also help facilitate an easy transfer back to your home institution.

Please fill out the form below and a university representative will contact you. You may also call our 24-hour "Ready line" at 800-742-8800.

Full news release Link for Application Form

[armyavonlady]

Along the lines of "adopting" a family: odds are that if you ask around (friends, family, contacts) you'll run across someone who knows someone who needs help.

A secretary where I work in Huntsville, Alabama, is originally from New Orleans. Her extended family of 12 is en route to Huntsville from Austin, TX (the only place they could find shelter when they evacuated). Our office is beginning to get together donations to help support them for the long haul, as they will no doubt be displaced for months if not permanently. I shared this info with my folks (in San Diego) who are contributing to the effort and who will no doubt tell people they know. This allows their contribution to be more personal. They know exactly where the money will go.

Point of all this babble is that if you ask around, you can probably do something to help more directly. If you want to help and either don't know how or if you became disillusioned with the Red Cross after 9/11, drop me a FReepmail and I'll let you know how you can help the extended family we'll be supporting.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!

[teenyelliott]

Does anyone have a list yet of FReepers who have been affected?

I know we might not have heard from many of them, but perhaps we could start adding names to this thread as we hear from them.

[hocndoc]

Don't forget to donate now or in the next 2 weeks and then again in a couple of months.

[subterfuge]

Great ideas hocndoc.

I'm in Florida and I'm really itching to help. I just can't see having a nice Labor Day holiday while all this is going on.

Start a ping list and put me on it please.

I'm ready to load up a truck with supplies but the gas situation and the ability to get into the affected area seems to be a potential problem. Plus, I don't carry and its looking pretty dangerous from what I've seen.

[judicial meanz]

I can offer a few suggestions based on experience to help out, and my prayers for the people out there who are suffering.

Suggestions:

1) They really need to airdrop supplies to the suffering, as well as tarps and other things before the temperatures start to kill the people who are exposed to the elements with no water and food. It can be done, if they make up survival packages and use helicopters to drop them into the crowds on the I-10 and other places. This will save a lot of lives. Dehydration and starvation are accelerated with heat and humidity.



2) They can re-establish communications, or make a secondary standby network by using line of sight GMRS radios that use batteries, and stationing personnel at intervals to relay information. Use a different prequency for different sectors. Place a repeater in a high building or aircraft, and use it to extend range of the radios.

3)There desperately needs to be an outlet for regular citizens to help out in this, and it will only save lives.

I'll add other ideas as I remember them.

[judicial meanz]

I can offer a few suggestions based on experience to help out, and my prayers for the people out there who are suffering.

Suggestions:

1) They really need to airdrop supplies to the suffering, as well as tarps and other things before the temperatures start to kill the people who are exposed to the elements with no water and food. It can be done, if they make up survival packages and use helicopters to drop them into the crowds on the I-10 and other places. This will save a lot of lives. Dehydration and starvation are accelerated with heat and humidity.



2) They can re-establish communications, or make a secondary standby network by using line of sight GMRS radios that use batteries, and stationing personnel at intervals to relay information. Use a different prequency for different sectors. Place a repeater in a high building or aircraft, and use it to extend range of the radios.

3)There desperately needs to be an outlet for regular citizens to help out in this, and it will only save lives.



I'll add other ideas as I remember them.