OFFICIAL Hurricane Katrina response thread

[FORD]

OK, I'm going to re-visit a concept that we used in the aftermath of the Asian Tsunami last year. I'm going to sticky this thread for a week or two.

Please use it to call attention to positive responses to the disaster in New Orleans and the other Gulf Coast Communities in the wake of the Hurricane.

No political or personal bashing in this thread, thanks. (the weed eater will be standing by)

[Warham]

http://www.redcross.org Donate!

1-800-HELP NOW

[FORD]

These links were posted over at DU.

http://www.noahswish.org

http://www.teamster.org/benefits/disasterrelief/disaste...

http://www.msana.com/msadisasterrelief.htm

http://www.la-spca.org/forms/donations.htm

http://www.hssm.org

[FORD]

Religious organizations looking for contributions and/or volunteers....


Adventist Community Services
1-800-381-7171

Catholic Charities, USA
703 549-1390

Christian Disaster Response
941-956-5183 or 941-551-9554

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
1-800-848-5818

Church World Service
1-800-297-1516

Convoy of Hope
417-823-8998

Lutheran Disaster Response
800-638-3522

Mennonite Disaster Service
717-859-2210

Nazarene Disaster Response
888-256-5886

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
800-872-3283

Salvation Army
1-800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769)

Southern Baptist Convention -- Disaster Relief
1-800-462-8657, ext. 6440

United Methodist Committee on Relief
1-800-554-8583

[FORD]

A few government links for anyone who might need official info regarding family or friends.....

Federal Emergency Management Agency
Phone: 1-800-621-FEMA
http://www.fema.gov /

Louisiana Homeland Security
http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov /

City of New Orleans
http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx

Louisiana Governor's Office
http://www.gov.state.la.us /

FEMA Charity tips
http://www.fema.gov/rrr/help2.shtm


State Emergency Organizations:

FEMA State Emergency Contact — http://www.fema.gov/fema/statedr.shtm

Alabama Department of Public Safety
Phone: (334) 242-4445
Website: http://www.dps.state.al.us

Alabama Emergency Management Agency
5898 County Road 41
P.O. Drawer 2160
Clanton, Alabama 35046-2160
Phone: 205-280-2200
Fax: 205-280-2495
Website: http://www.ema.alabama.gov

Florida Division of Emergency Management
2555 Shumard Oak Blvd.
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2100
Phone: 850-413-9900
Email: florida.disaster@dca.state.fl.us
Website: http://www.floridadisaster.org

Florida Emergency Preparedness Association
Phone: 850-906-0779
Fax: 850-893-1845
Email: fepa@fepa.org
Website: http://www.fepa.org

Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
Phone: 225-925-7500
Fax: 225-925-7501
Website: http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov

Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness
7667 Independence Blvd.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806
Phone: (225) 925-7500
Fax: (225) 925-7501
http://www.loep.state.la.us

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency
P.O. Box 4501 - Fondren Station
Jackson, Mississippi 39296-4501
Phone: (601) 352-9100
Toll Free Phone: (800) 442-6362
Fax: (601) 352-8314
http://www.mema.state.ms.us
http://www.msema.org/mitigate/mssaferoominit.htm

Georgia Emergency Management Agency
P.O. Box 18055
Atlanta, Georgia 30316-0055
Phone: (404) 635-7000
Fax: (404) 635-7205
http://www.State.Ga.US/GEMA/

[FORD]

For the next 30 days, Capitol Hill Blue...will match any contribution made by a reader and forward it on to The American Red Cross and other agencies. The donations will be made "on behalf of the readers of Capitol Hill Blue."

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/katrinaaid.html

If you donate to the Red Cross at the Capitol Hill Blues site, your donation will be matched. Make the most of your contribution by having it doubled at this site. Please pass this info on. These folks are also donating 100% of their ad revenue for the next 30 days.

[Nickdfresh]

Here's another of one of AMERICA's top charities, recognized by both FORBES Magazine and Consumer DIGEST as far as efficiency and "bang for the buck," however, I'm not sure every dollar donated will go to New ORLEANS. So donate to somewhere else if you have any concerns:

www.directrelief.org

More Info:

Hurricane Katrina:
Direct Relief International Extends Aid Offer

Santa Barbara, California, August 28, 2005—In anticipation of damage from Hurricane Katrina, Direct Relief International has offered assistance to Louisiana state and federal officials to replenish medical inventories or provide emergency medical material if needed. Direct Relief maintains medical inventories to support health services in developing countries and to respond to emergencies.

Because of the organization’s extensive medical inventories, Direct Relief serves as a private back-up support to official emergency response efforts in the United States.

Direct Relief staff has contacted officials in the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and FEMA to advise them of available inventories of medical supplies.

In recent weeks, Direct Relief airlifted over $800,000 in emergency medicines to India following historic flooding in Maharastra to combat outbreaks of waterborne diseases and has provided over $30 million in material and cash aid to Asian countries affected by the December 2004 tsunami.

[Guitar Shark]

You can delete it FORD, I was just seeing if you were paying attention. ;)

http://images.animationfactory.com/animations/objects/lawn_care/man_trimming_with_weed_eater/man_trimming_with_weed_eater_lg_wm.gif

OK, done ;)

That said, if the Republican party of Louisiana does have a legitmate relief operation going, that's more than welcome.

[Little Texan]

I donated $50 to the Red Cross earlier today. Had I known about that Capitol Hill Blue deal earlier, I would have donated there instead. Having read on this board about Red Cross withholding donation money (after donating to RC, of course), I hope at least someone benefits from my contribution!

[Redballjets88]

yeah this is really hitting home for me since i live in dallas and there are buses coming here and we already have enrolments of new students coming from N.O. i have donated about 15 or so dollars like when they pass around the tin cans at school

[Cathedral]

GIVE-GIVE-GIVE UNTIL IT HURTS!
It will still be more painless than what they are feeling. much more painless.............We can't hurt enough to compare.

If it's only a dollar, give it.
If you have money in savings, dig in and give it...YOU will be blessed for your compassion and love for your brothers and sisters.

Just think about the children, children who after 9-11 raised enough cash to purchase two new fire trucks for New York.

They need our help and we must step up to the plate, ALL of us have to step up and do what needs to be done.

Thank You!

[DLR'sCock]

http://www.habitat.org/


President Jimmy Carter's habitat for Humanity.

People will need homes.

[Pink Spider]

I wouldn't trust the red cross after the 9-11 scandal.

Second Harvest has promised that 100% of donations will go directly to Katrina relief. So, I went with them.

http://www.secondharvest.org/

[Nickdfresh]

Europe Readies Katrina Aid to Send to U.S.
Monday, September 5, 2005 9:38 PM EDT
The Associated Press
By CONSTANT BRAND

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — European nations on Monday prepared aid teams, food rations, water pumps and even cruise ships to help U.S. regions hit by Hurricane Katrina.

Countries large and small have offered aid — from tiny Luxembourg's beds and blankets to half a million food rations from Germany and Britain.

Greece put on standby two cruise ships to house refugees and Sweden has offered aircraft to help distribute aid shipments, said Barbara Helfferich, a European Union spokeswoman.

Helfferich said an EU aid coordinator would go to the United States soon to help ensure aid goes to victims of Katrina in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. U.S. authorities made a rare request for help from Europe over the weekend, asking for anything from diapers and baby formula to forklifts and veterinarian supplies.

Aid flights from overseas will be directed and to Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, unloaded there, and have the material sent to the affected regions to the south, said Air Force Lt. Jon Quinlan.

"We've contracted semi-truck drivers to drive the cargo to the Gulf Coast starting tomorrow," Quinlan said.

The first plane including food rations arrived Monday from Britain and was unloaded in preparation for the seven-hour drive to New Orleans.

"The United States has been enormously grateful for the outpouring of support both emotional and concrete from allies over the past week," said Victoria Nuland, the U.S. ambassador to NATO.

NATO officials said the alliance was coordinating offers of food, shelter and other aid from several allies, including Germany, Canada and Norway which was offering navy divers as well as 10,000 blankets. Latvia and France were preparing to send disaster relief teams.

Non-NATO members were also working with the alliance disaster coordination center, including Switzerland and Russia, which has offered generators, tents and 10,000 meals.

Germany and Britain had already sent 570,000 emergency food rations over the weekend, while Luxembourg was preparing to send a team of five aid experts, two jeeps, and bedding. The Netherlands had deployed a naval frigate, which was transporting drinking water, medical supplies and much needed helicopters.

Many European countries have pledged to release parts of their strategic oil and gas reserves to stabilize global oil supplies.

Bangladesh, an impoverished delta nation that is regularly buffeted by cyclones and floods, pledged $1 million and offered the services of rescuers and disaster experts.

A Mexican ship loaded with supplies set sail on Monday from the Gulf Coast port of Tampico, and the country has set up consular offices in trailers around the disaster zone to help some of the estimated 140,000 Mexicans who live in the region, 10,000 of them in New Orleans.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said last week no aid offer would be refused.

———

Associated Press writer Noah Trister contributed to this report from Jacksonville, Ark.

[Nickdfresh]

http://bushclintonkatrinafund.org/clientuploads/Bush-Clinton-Katrina-Fund.jpg

Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund (http://www.bushclintonkatrinafund.org/)

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and her immense devastation, former Presidents Bush and Clinton established the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund to provide relief and rebuilding resources to help the victims of this disaster. This charitable fund will collect cash and in-kind donations and work with the governors of the affected states to coordinate both the short and long term relief efforts.

Your contribution is essential to rebuilding the lives of the victims. Click here to donate now.

The Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund is a 501(c) 3 organization. Donations to the fund are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.

DONATE (https://www.kintera.org/AutoGen/Simple/Donor.asp?ievent=131413&en=ikKWJ1NHLhLRI0OQLfKNJaOZLlLRI5PNJfIRIeMUJiKWLdP SKfLXKgN1JyE)

[BigBadBrian]

http://www.ob.org/images/headers/index_header.jpg

Kitchens Providing Essential Aid to Hurricane Victims

Becky (left) and her mom Barbara (center), shown here with all the kitchen team, are part of one volunteer group that drove 16 hours from Pennsylvania to help hurricane victims.





Amid the ongoing emergency situation following Hurricane Katrina, mobile kitchens along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, stocked with food and supplies from Operation Blessing, are helping meet the most essential needs of disaster victims.

At the Church of God in Gulfport, MS., hot meals are being prepared and served by volunteers three times every day providing both nourishment and comfort for local residents.

OBI supplies food and water by the truckload for this vital operation that serves up to 10,000 meals a day. A staff of volunteers from across the nation has assembled in what was once the church’s parking lot, transforming it into a massive tent-covered kitchen, dining and distribution area.

In nearby Long Beach, Southern Baptist disaster relief teams are cooking hot meals twice a day and loading up The Salvation Army canteens for mobile distribution into hard-hit areas. Meals are also being distributed to thousands of local residents on site, along with water and other supplies.

Operation Blessing trucks are delivering relief goods daily to this central location in the heart of the area that bore the brunt of Katrina’s fury.

Additionally, OBI’s own mobile kitchen has made its maiden voyage to Slidell, La., where it’s set to begin preparing thousands of meals daily for local hurricane victims. In this overlooked disaster-stricken area, feeding and relief activities were urgently needed, and Operation Blessing is answering this Louisiana town’s dire need for help.


How You Can Help
You can take part in Operation Blessing's ongoing disaster response efforts by making an online donation to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina.


Operation Blessing (https://www.cbn.com/giving/ob/option.asp?m=cbn_main)

[FORD]

Legitimate charities only, please.

[Little Texan]

Operation Blessing...isn't that that front for Pat Robertson's South Africa diamond mining operation? I wouldn't give him the sweat off my nutsack, crooked bastard!