Hurricane Disaster Direct Relief!

Hurricane Gustav Information

Dear Friends - This blog was created following Hurricane Katrina. Please refer to the following resources if you are seeking information for Hurricane Gustav.  We may reactivate this blog in the very near future so please keep checking back.  All the best to you!

The American Red Cross Evacuation Checklist - Can be downloaded as a .pdf or printed from the screen.

State of Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness - A fact sheet with a brief list - as in "If you have only moments before leaving, grab these things and go!") and an extended list.

Not a list per se, but a wealth of evacuation tips from Katrina survivors on Nola.org of The Times Picayune.

Also from Nola.org and relevant to citizens of the New Orleans metropolitan area, a comprehensive resource guide - New Orleans Hurricane Survival Guide.

Good luck and many blessings to all of our fellow citizens in Gustav's path.

A year ago today...

...this blog, once known as Hurricane Katrina Direct Relief, was born.

The story of how this blog began is simple.  I started this blog to help those who wanted to help the communities affected by Hurricane Katrina.   So many people helped, and so many people were served.

I want to continue to serve those affected by disasters and crisis through this blog and other online venues.  We have an amazing communication tool in the the Internet.  It's the greatest bulletin board known.  Through blogs, forums, websites we have access to each other.   We can talk to one another, and tell and hear our stories.  It's an everyday miracle.

My next step is to develop an relief online network for disaster and crisis relief.  Are you interested in participating?  I'm looking for volunteers who...

• are already active online, via a blog or on a website forum/bulletin board,
• with a church organization, volunteer agency, or any group who would like to connect with the online community,
• somebody who just wants to help out, somehow.

We'll be talking about this relief online network at an upcoming gathering in Santa Cruz, California the weekend of September 15th.  If you'd like to attend, please email me at gracedb@yahoo.com.  If you can't come to this this meeting, contact me and let's start talking.

Many blessings to all,

Grace Davis
Blogger, Hurricane Disaster Direct Relief
Santa Cruz, California

 

 

UPDATE - May, 2006

Where the Hurricane Katrina Direct Relief blog began, our kitchen table.  Photo - Anne Dowie/New York Times

Dear Friends,

It has been eight months since Hurricane Katrina destroyed communities on the Gulf Coast, and yet, we know the disaster continues for many of our fellow citizens in this region.

The archives of the Hurricane Katrina Direct Relief blog will remain online as a resource for folks who wish to assist these communities with supplies and on-site volunteers. 

With the 2006 hurricane season less than two weeks away, we will be renewing this blog with more information.  In the meantime, if you are interested in sending your generous gifts and/or providing  volunteer time and labor, kindly consider working with the following organizations and projects:

HANDS: Helping Americans Needing Disaster SupportWe have been working with this wonderful relief team since they opened up their supplies center just days after Katrina.  HANDS can set you and your group up with on-site volunteer opportunities and can certainly assist any donors who wish to send supplies and/or monetary donations.

The Giving Circle
As recommended by Sara Ford, a resourceful and creative young woman who assisted her hometown of Waveland, Mississippi with her blog.  The Giving Circle is operating an ongoing relief and rebuilding program in Waveland and are always seeking on-site workers, donations and supplies.

The Bush/Clinton Katrina Fund
Though our efforts on the Hurricane Katrina Direct Relief blog has focused on grassroots, one on one contacts, we wish to draw your attention to the extraordinary organization created by Presidents George H. Bush and Bill Clinton.  Donations will be directed to grants for health, housing, and rebuilding in the impacted Gulf Coast states.  The momentum generated by this unlikely alliance of Republican and Democrat ex-Presidents is note worthy (from the website):  "Since September, the Presidents have raised approximately $115 million; awarded 42 grants, and disbursed more than $53 million through April 30, 2006."

Friends, please email us if you know of any other organization that would benefit from a listing on our blog.  We would be pleased to aid any group doing active relief, rebuilding and hurricane preparation.

Finally, the name of this blog will change on June 1, 2006 to "Hurricane Disaster Direct Relief" in acknowledgement that our work will extend beyond Hurricane Katrina.

Many blessings to all,
Grace Davis, Blog Keeper

UPDATE 12.04.05 Want to volunteer over the holidays? Work crews are needed in Ocean Springs, MS.

As of December 4, 2005:

Our friend, Jim Antonakus  at the Christus Victor Lutheran Church, Ocean Springs, Mississippi called to let us know that they are overbooked with volunteers for the holiday!  THANK YOU, all you wonderful readers for your amazing donations of time and labor!

We are working with our contacts to identify other work camps asking for volunteers to assist their community.  Please keep checking back for updates.

In the meantime, here's a weblog by the volunteers at Christus Lutheran church:

Hurricane Katrina Volunteer Blog, Christus Victor Lutheran Church.

Many blessings to all, this holiday season!

Welcome to the Hurricane Katrina Direct Relief Blog!

Greetings from Victoria, the Mississippi Mom/Boots-on-the Ground, and Grace, Blog Keeper for Hurricane Katrina Direct Relief and the Family to Family blogs!

Welcome, friends, to our Katrina relief site.  Please use this weblog as a multi-purpose resource for donations of supplies and equipment to the disaster zone as well as opportunities for volunteering on site.  We pride ourselves on having direct connections to individuals organizing relief efforts.  As a donor, you can be assured that your gifts will sent directly to the good folks in need.  If you want to contribute your precious time and hard labor to serve in the disaster zone, we can set you up with direct contacts for volunteer coordinators. 

No red tape, no bureaucracies, no middlemen... we're just two moms with an extensive network of friends in the disaster zone, and a laptop with a fast broadband connection to get the word out!

We also hope you can visit our Family to Family blog.  'Wish Lists' for families are posted on this site.  These families need everything from clothing and shoes to building supplies.  A great suggestion is to have your church group or child's classroom 'adopt' a family, and provide as many items as possible from their Wish Lists.  In whatever manner you wish to donate, please know that no gift is too small or humble for our friends who have lost everything in this disaster.

Finally, we have a unique way you can contribute to the relief effort.  On the left sidebar of this blog is a link to Good Deal Travels.  Whenever you arrange your travel plans with Good Deal Travels  - whether for business, vacations, or a hotel room for your mother-in-law's visit - a percentage of the fees goes towards Hurricane Katrina relief.  This link is also available on the right sidebar of the Family to Family blog.

Friends, thanks once again for your visit.   Please email us if you have any questions or require additional information on our project.  We would be honored to assist you in any way we can.

Many blessings to all!

Volunteer Nurses Needed in Ocean Springs!

Victoria Powell, our supermom-on-the-ground received an urgent request for registered nurses:

A physician in Ocean Springs who is a good friend needs nurses to volunteer. He lost half of his 30-some nurses, and is ready for help.  He would love to have them short or long term. He is a WONDERFUL caring man, who loves his work taking care of the sickest and poorest in Coastal Health Clinics, his patients have hypertension, diabetes, aids, you name it.

Friends, if you are an RN, or know someone who is, kindly email Victoria Powell (victoriajpowell@yahoo.com) for more details.

Many thanks and blessings to everyone!

'HANDS' - a donation center in Jackson Mississippi needs a hand!

Friends, we have been working with the wonderful folks at Christ United Methodist Church for many weeks now.  Their distibution center has grown considerably, and their volunteers now coordinate supply and equipment shipments for not only Mississippi, but Louisiana, as well.  Our contact, Cindy Cheeks, wrote us with details of what exactly is needed in the region.  Please read on for her comprehensive report:

UPDATE 11/3/05 - What's going on with this blog?

Hello from Blogger Grace! 

It's been nearly two months since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, and two months since this mighty little blog assisted donors in shipping supplies and equipment directly to the disaster zone.  What a great project! Applause all around!  But, our work continues as our friends in the disaster zone still need us.

Most of the evacuee shelters have closed and relief organizations have assisted individuals and families in locating permanent housing.  To that end, we will no longer provide a list of shelters for your donations.  Instead, we will be writing blog entries about distribution centers and other relief services.  These are organizations we know well, with contacts we have worked closely with from the beginning of our endeavor.  Therefore, we can guarantee that these groups will ensure that your donations will go directly to individuals in critical need.  'Direct' donations has been the key to how we operate and why this blog became nationally recognized.  We realize you want your gifts to be used immediately, and not sitting in storage for weeks on end, tied up in red tape.

And, if you want to help the evacuee families in their transition period from the shelter, please take a look at our sister project, Family to Family.  We post 'wish lists' for individual families on this blog.  Kindly take a look at the Family to Family site to see how you can help these families in their new lives.

Finally, our blog will continue to provide details about on-site volunteer opportunities. The task of rebuilding on the Coast will continue for months to come, and these communities will welcome all who wish to extend the profound gift of time and labor.  We know several groups who will be travelling to the Coast during Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks and we'll be putting them in touch with volunteer coordinators and crews in the area.  Perhaps this may appeal to you, too.  If so, do take a look at the calls for volunteers listed in the blog entries.

Friends, we will carry on for as long as our fellow citizens on the Gulf Coast need us.  We hope you can join us in any way you can.

Many blessings to all!

A bounty of supplies and heartfelt gifts of children's drawings!

From blogger Grace:

A truly spectacular young woman, Eva T. of Burlingame, California, organized a donation drop off point in her town.  It was an awesome success!  We are pleased to share Eva's report of what she accomplished.  To the left you'll see some of the colorful gifts of drawings from thoughtful kids!

Announcing our new blog: Family to Family!

From blogger Grace:

Many shelters in the disaster zone have closed and families have been placed in their own homes.  However, these folks are starting their new lives in empty houses and apartments.  The mission of our new blog, Family to Family, is to provide basic necessities for these families in transition.

The Family to Family project is based on the successful model of this Hurricane Katrina Direct Relief! blog - we work closely with contacts in the community, the churches/shelters/relief missions/local leaders, to provide accurate, reliable contact information so your donations are sent directly to individuals truly in need.  You can be assured that your gifts will not be stored in a warehouse, unused for weeks.

We will continue our work on this blog, posting donation requests for the shelters that remain open as well as informing readers of volunteer opportunities.  The work will continue in the Hurricane Katrina disaster zone for a long time, and we will be staying the course for the long run.

Friends, we hope you can help these families begin their lives anew.  Please drop us an email if you have any questions regarding our new project.

Many blessings to all!

Sunny, who fed the town from her deli, continues to need our help!

From Grace

A good friend to this blog, Michelle, has been in contact with the sister of Sunny Wilson, owner of Robin's Deli in Gautier, Mississippi.  You may remember Sunny from this previous blog post; she's the amazing Steel Magnolia who fed the community from the deli before help arrived.  This selfless woman continues to feed 150 people a day out of her own pocket.   

Folks, if you want to help, you can send a check made out to the deli's food supplier, First Choice Foods, and mail it to Sunny directly.  Mailing address:

Sunny Wilson
c/o Robin's Deli
7504 Martin Bluff Road
Gautier, MS  39553
 

Poetry from the disaster zone.

From Grace

We are lucky to live in this day and age of 'Citizen Journalism'.  Lucky in that regular folks can report in from the field/the front/on the ground and give us the story from diverse points of view.  Lucky in that someone like Alan Bostick, a wonderful writer-blogger, can send us a bit of poetry from the disaster zone.  Alan connected with contacts provided in this blog, and is currently boots-on-the-ground in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Alan's poem, 'What's Good About Sunglasses', follows.

Our friends still need us!

Greetings to all!

Our mighty little blog has served as a mighty big resource to get help to the folks in the Hurricane Katrina disaster zone.  Thank you one and all!

The work is not over; there is still a need for volunteers and supplies.  Please scroll through this main page and the archives on the right sidebar to see how you can help.  All of the postings are still valid and the shelter list has been updated as of Thursday, September 29, 2005.

If you need more information, please email our Mississippi mom/boots-on-the-ground, Victoria Powell, who will get back to you as soon as she can.

In the meantime, we extend our deepest gratitude and fellowship to all of you.

Many blessings,
Victoria, Pam the Rug Lady, Val, Denise, Janine, Pam the Nerd and Grace
Moms-on-the-ground and Bloggers
Hurricane Katrina Direct Relief!

Bay St. Louis needs volunteers!

  102_6192 
  Originally uploaded by Mayfairs.

From volunteer AJ's flickr photostream.

Blogger Grace here, sharing news from storm ravaged Bay St. Louis:

Volunteers and equipment are needed for debris removal.  Once the debris has been cleared, FEMA can roll in mobile homes for the town inhabitants.

The community desperately needs manpower, chain saws, bobcats. 

If you can help with volunteering and/or know of a way to get ice down to Bay St. Louis, please call any of these volunteers.

Margo Dominque 919 422 6178

Ron Flores  318 752 8562

AJ - Anthony Jackson  615-419-9783 or 615 822 7803

Needed: Pharmaceutical samples for clinics in the disaster zone.

From Victoria, mom/boots-on-the-ground, calling all who can help with medicaion samples:

"Our coast doctors can use some pharmaceutical samples, so please help us out if you are a pharmaceutical sales representative or know a representative in this industry.  Please contact victoriajpowell@yahoo.com.

Also helpful - any source/clinic/physician's office that have samples available for a donation shipment.  A physician in Long Beach, MIssissippi told us her shelves are empty after she giving everything  she had to the fire department.  This is a great way for physicians and surgeons and all healthcare professionals who want to help us from a distance."

Field report praises relief efforts of local church

From Blogger Janine

Reporting from the field, a volunteer RN named Marika Dragotti has a positive assessment of St. Paul Methodist Church in Ocean Springs, MS, mentioned in a recent post.

The entire review follows below.

Tips for volunteer prepareness

From Blogger Janine

Kathy Williams has reported on several experienced tips on what you can do/bring in the event that you go someplace to volunteer.

Her advice?

Don't let the conditions (which are not that bad) deter you. It's worth it!

More advice continued below.

Bug Juice for All!

West Nile is here and it’s dangerous. Please send bug spray.

The post-Katrina problem of mosquitoes (and “love bugs" and who knows what else) is visible and frightening. We'd like to avoid bugborn badness as much as possible!

While insecticides are not our amour of choice, this is an emergency  situation. Rirst responders, rebuilders, and debris diggers need protection from the biters, so pack up that box of bug juice and send it south!

Send your bug juice to any shelter on the list.

Midsouth health records system needs rebuilding

$50,000 is needed to complete a project to restore the health records system, previously available free to all Mississippi health care providers.

Make your checks out to the American Cancer Society, Health Record Restoration Project and send them to:

American Cancer Society, Mid-South Region
C/O Victoria Powell,
Box 324, Madison,
MS 39130-0324

Skilled people are needed too:

Grant writers and brilliant programmers are cordially invited to help us! Show up and you’ll get good southern cookin’ including, catfish, cornbread and greens, for lunch. Blogkeeper Grace assures me that Victoria "really does feed you lunch." What more incentive do you need?

For more information:
Email Victoria or call  601.540.6453

For more details on the project, read the extended post.

Phone Volunteers Needed

Victoria, one of our field heroines, could use your help. In her words:

Please help make connections for us. 

If you have a few hours or so to donate to the cause, we could use some smart phone callers.  If you donate some time and pick up the tab for long distance charges, please email me and I will give you an assignment that will make your heart sing, because you will be part of the chain of buckets going straight to the fire.   

We're are doing one family at a time,the way it has to be done.

To learn what's needed, email Victoria.