KALB's 10 pm newscast has a very encouraging update about the evacuation of ill people from New Orleans. In addition to a fleet of mini-buses, there are 70 Blackhawk helicopters being used to transport patients to such hospitals as Cabrini in Alexandria. The helicopters will land at the parking lot of the Alexandria Mall and at Buhlow Lake in Pineville.
This rescue effort is separate from the huge motorcade of school buses from Rapides, Grant and Natchitoches Parishes now lined up on the highway ready to leave for New Orleans. The kids get to stay home from school, but the school employees are still required to report to work. The Catholic schools in Rapides Parish have also decided to close on Friday. It's a welcome extension to the Labor Day weekend!
KALB's telethon has raised $70,000 for the CenLa Chapter of the American Red Cross so far. If you want to be sure that your charitable donation reaches the thousands of refugee families in Central Louisiana, this is a good way to help. Call (318) 447-2542 or (318) 447-2531 if you would like to make a donation that will stay here. They plan to stay on the air tonight until they reach $100,000.
If you have a strong preference for the Salvation Army over the Red Cross, you can mail your donations to their homeless shelter at 620 Beauregard Street, Alexandria, LA 71301. They also have a Salvation Army Thrift Shop way across town on Lee Street in Alexandria in case anyone would like to ship cartons of clothing there. Shelter guests are given a clothing voucher to take over to the thrift store which is good for 10 free items of clothing per family member. The voucher cannot be used for school uniforms, unfortunately, but the Salvation Army store is nevertheless drastically cheaper than the two Goodwill Industries stores in Alexandria/Pineville.
The newscast also showed a group of refugees at the Alexandria unemployment office applying for benefits and already searching for work in this area. This is going to create competition for jobs needed by people who already live here. Uh-oh...
I'm glad I don't have to get up early tomorrow morning to take my little one to school. In a scary situation like this, I am just happy to spend some quality time with her. It also means I get to surf all night, hee-hee-hee...
I'll let you know if there are any updates tonight.
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Personal email excerpt RE: Prisoner transfer from New Orleans
More rays of sunshine tonight! Thank you - and please keep us posted.
KWCH in Wichita has raised almost 300,000 bucks in donations via a Red Cross phone bank. Incredible.
I hope it gets even bigger. They need all the help they can get down there.
Not knowing, may be dumb, but what about a PayPal account for those of us further away that want to make sure minimal $$ go where they should (I signed off on a couple major "charities" a while ago).
Buickmackane mentioned school uniforms earlier on. It would make their young lives easier dealing with some sort of norm while adults deal with the major task at hand.
Thoughts, heart and prayers to all in the area.
Any info about how the USPS is handling relief packages to Lousiana? I just heard on Fox News, that one out of five people have no shoes. This is at the Astrodome. Can boxes of clothes/flipflops/personal care items, be shipped directly there?
Maybe Payless Shoes can donate footwear?