More on Katrina Relief
A continuation from my previous post.
Message from Erik:
I met April Smith on a hurricane relief trip to the Gulfport, MS area last Saturday. Our group was at the St James Baptist Church and she was delivering clothing and other relief items from her church to the St James Church.
There are 3 “core” churchs in the coastal Mississippi area that are attempting to distribute aid to the surrounding communities but they have spent quite a bit of money on gasoline. I asked April Smith (of New Light Baptist Church) how much they had spent over the 3 week period since the hurricane and she gave me a big build up and said “over $500″. Now if we could just scrape together another $500 or so for gas money to keep their outreach activies going for another 3 weeks, I think that would be money well-spent.
If you are interested in making a tax deductible donation, make checks out to the “New Light Baptist Church” and put “Community Outreach” in the memo field so they know what to use it for.
The church’s address is:
New Light Baptist Church
5120 Burney Rd
Vancleave, MS 39565
228-826-3315
Since mail delivery to the church is a little unreliable right now, April Smith (the pastor’s daughter) suggested that sending the check to her residence would be better. Her address is:
April Smith
6511 Mayfair St
Ocean Springs, MS 39564
228-218-2705
I feel certain that after things settle down a little bit, the church would be able to provide a receipt for tax purposes (you would also have the cancelled check).
Thanks for your help,
Erik Turner
Katrina Relief
A coworker of mine bought supplies and filled up his SUV and drove out to hurricane ravaged areas on the Mississippi and Louisiana coast. He’s planning on driving out every other week for three or four days at a time. He’s doing all he can but he needs help. He gave me a list of items that they’re going to need over there. If you can get it to him or to the damaged areas of the gulf coast, I’m sure the people out there would appreciate it. If you want to contribute, just let me know and we’ll try to get things going. Here’s what he sent me:
Eric,
At least in the Lakeshore, Waveland, Bay St Louis areas of Mississippi, quite a few people are going to be living in tents for the next 6-12 months. So consider what you would want to have if you were on an extended camping trip.
I found that, in general, it was better to buy small containers of things like spices because the same amount will service more people/families. Or you can do what I did which was to buy in bulk and distribute the spices into individual baggies to make them stretch further.
Centralized relief sites are available in the area that provide the basics for survival (water, ice, MRE’s). I’ve tried to only list items that are in short supply or are not being provided by the bigger relief sites. Another problem in this area is that the residents don’t really trust people with uniforms much (army, national guard, police) and they don’t have money to buy gasoline to get to the relief center. So the smaller, closer relief sites generate a lot more traffic since the locals can walk to them and they trust them more.
Here is a list of supplies needed as of Sep 19, 2005 for the area that I delivered supplies to:
– Linens –
Undershirts, Mens
Underwear, Women / Men
Socks
Towels
Sheets
Pillows
Sewing kits
Clotheslines
Clothespins
– Food/cooking –
Gatorade (electolytes)
Fruit Juices (only ones that keep without refrigeration - bottled orange juice will spoil)
Cooking spices (MRE’s will keep you alive but they get a little old after a while)
Pots and pans
Propane camping stoves
Small propane fuel cans (can’t ship these either)
plastic plates/cups (reusable, can be cleaned)
cooking utensils (metal, maybe bbq type)
eating utensils
can openers
freeze-dried ice cream (doesn’t need special storage, not really a need, just a treat in hard times)
– Hygiene –
Feminine Products
Paper Towels
Toilet Paper
– Cleaning –
camp soap (cleans everything, dishes, clothes, people, etc)
Laundry detergent
Dish detergent (Dawn, Palmolive, etc)
Chlorox (can’t ship this via US Mail or UPS) and/or anything that kills mold spores
Mops
Buckets
Sponges
Scouring pads
Knee high boots (wading through muck to do clean up)
Surgical / dust masks
Vapor rub (rub on upper lip to help with the smell while cleaning up)
Garbage bags (heavy duty)
Strong work gloves
Shovels
– Medical –
Over-the-counter drugs (Antacid, Headache, Allergy, Cough, etc)
First aid stuff (gauze, neosporin, surgical tape, etc)
Hand sanitizer
Hydrogen Peroxide
Rubbing Alcohol
– Camping –
Tarps
Rope
Duct tape (this is big)
Insect Repellent
Camp showers (SunShower is one brand)
Batteries
Battery-powered lanterns
Air mattresses (don’t forget the pumps - that kind of stuff got washed or blown away)
hatchet
bow saw
extra blades
spikes (for tarp or tent)
water purification tablets?
mosquito netting
lighters/matches
– Boredom Reduction –
– A lot of people are just sitting around during the day since they can’t afford gas to put in their car, they don’t have jobs because their employer’s business got destroyed, there is no TV or radio –
Crossword puzzles
Magazines
Books (children, adult, etc)
plain white paper
pencils
pens
pencil sharpener
– other –
ziplock bags
Incompetence
Much in the same way this administration ignored warnings of terrorist attacks, they also ignored warnings of the New Orleans disaster. They claim that they never anticipated the simultaneous hurricane/flooding scenario despite warnings three years ago. Even if this article didn’t exist, is it supposed to make me feel better that after billions of dollars supposedly spent on federal emergency management and improved communication, a simulated hurricane disaster training scenario in New Orleans, and the fact that New Orleans is 15 feet below sea level and the levees are only meant to withstand Category 3 hurricanes, they didn’t know? Not to mention that it was four days before Bush decided it might be a good idea to cut short his vacation, one of countless many he’s taken since he became president. Oh yeah, and it was six days before federal officials moved into the area to help. It took an understandably pissed off New Orloans major ripping on this administration on public radio to get them to act. So now here we are, thousands are dead, and our wonderful administration goes and spins more lies to cover their asses.
Top 10 easiest schools
The Princeton Review provides the list of the 10 easiest schools in the nation. Note who’s number 7.
