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Help the victims of Hurricane Katrina 31 Aug 2005

61 comments Latest by carl

red crossIf you can spare a few bucks, consider helping the victims of Katrina via donation to the Red Cross Hurricane 2005 Relief fund (you can also donate via Amazon.com if that’s easier for you). Please help if you can. If you can’t offer money, perhaps you can offer shelter like these generous folks.

37signals will match up to $5000 in total donations for SvN readers who donate to the Red Cross Hurricane 2005 Relief fund. Just forward your donation confirmation email to me (jason at 37signals dot com) and once we’ve received $5000 in total donations we’ll make a donation for $5000 in the name of “Signal vs. Noise Readers.”

UPDATE: You did it! We hit $5000 in just a few hours. Thanks so much for the generosity of these fine folks. Unfortunately I couldn’t make a donation in someone else’s name unless it was a tribute (which didn’t seem appropriate), but the $5000 was donated with the 37signals corporate card. Thanks again.

61 comments so far (Jump to latest)

Tory 01 Sep 05

It seems to me like there hasn’t really been a huge outpour of support for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Maybe it’s just too early. I’m glad that you posted this.

Mark 01 Sep 05

Tory -

You’re right about the online effort looking a little lax. But, here in Houston and other southeast Texas cities where a good deal of the folks evacuated to, the support is awe inspiring - folks giving up vacation homes, up to a year in paid rent on apartments, individuals donating thousands of dollars to Red Cross…

The outpouring of support and good deeds is there - it’s maybe just not as visible and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Lisa 01 Sep 05

Hi All—

You guys have no idea how devastating this is. Bodies floating around. It’s awful. My parents live 20mi. west of town and were spared the worst. New Orelans is home to many, many poor folks. These people need our help and our thoughts and prayers.

Brady Joslin 01 Sep 05

Thanks for posting this, guys.

TooBadNOIsntInSouthEastAsia 01 Sep 05

Don’t expect a huge outpouring of support from Americans, apparently the Tree Huggers™ and American Corporations agree on one thing, only Tsunami victims in South East Asia are worthy of aid in times of crisis. When is Apple going to take that goofy mouse off their home page and replace it with the Red Cross donation info like they did for Tsunami Relief? When will the Red Cross appear on every major corporations home page? When will Hollywood’s $20M per film elite (I’m looking at you Sandra Bullock) start announcing that they’re donating huge sums to prevent the deaths of THOUSANDs if not TENS of THOUSANDS of infants who are dying in NICUs without power? Thanks 37S for at least taking a stab… the only thing sadder than the state of affairs in The Big Easy, is the rest of the country’s reaction thus far. I’m proud to say that in NY, volunteer firefighters (maybe some paid too) and emergency workers have been heading South in droves—the support we received after 9/11 has not been forgotten, we could use a little of that magic back in this time of crisis.

Chris 01 Sep 05

That’s all true but South East Asia doesn’t have a 10 trillion dollar economy does it!

ek 01 Sep 05

Why does some idiot always have to turn these things into a pissing contest about how much person/country X is donating towards the relief effort for catastrophe Y and how catastrophe Y is at least as bad, if not worse than catastrophe Z?

Shut up already you asshat. Give what you can, but however much that might be, that gives you no right to judge the amount given by others.

And please get a clue about “the rest of the country’s reaction thus far” — relief and rescue workers have been pouring into the region from all over the U.S.

Of course you have the right to say what you think, but people like you really just suck.

And to JF and the 37s crew, much love for posting the donation links.

Lisa 01 Sep 05

And to JF and the 37s crew, much love for posting the donation links.

Agreed.
The negativity will get us nowhere.

ghani 01 Sep 05

People all over the country are offering up their homes to strangers on Craigslist and doubtless other places as well — America is taking care of itself.

Marcus 01 Sep 05

Help, I Need Somebody…

My deepest sorrow to all persons who have lost a beloved family member or friend.

BUT: just by residing in a dangerous area nobody is “per se” elected to claim for help. The area affected is known to be exposed to wheater hazards, and people there made close to nil efforts (in relation to the size of a hurrican!) to secure their homes. It seems, that even the rest of US just “hasn’t got time” to look at this very small part of the country. For the world it seems, that “the country with unlimited possibilites” is divided between those who lost all (but first easly believed everything they heard) and those who see their businesses but not the persons.
Speaking as a non-US: help yourself and keep quiet.
regards
Marcus

Ryan 01 Sep 05

Marcus,

Where do you live? Where I live we have earthquakes. Other parts of the United States is subject to frequent tornados and hurricanes. Many people in the world live in the shadow of volcanos. I hear that some people may occasionally even be affected by tsunamis. Unless you live in an underground bunker, chances are that simply living your life exposes you to a threat of some kind.

You should also know that much of the damage in this hurricane was caused by the failure of major levees, *not* simply because people failed to secure their homes.

People get hurt all the time. It’s part of life. To suggest that people should be refused help because of their choice of geographic location, their level of preparedness, or their economic status is preposterous and stupid. That’s like saying we should withhold aid from people starving of famine because they didn’t do enough to help themselves.

No, indeed those of us with the means to help should help. So stop bellyaching over who deserves help or who doesn’t deserve it or who gives more. If you’re not going to help, then don’t, but don’t ridicule those who do.

asdf 01 Sep 05

Here is what the damage looks like from one of our spy satellites. Two of my cousins who lived in town have not been heard from since this storm - but my gut feeling is they are ok. I wonder is it really worth it to rebuild?

Amy 01 Sep 05

I hope your cousins are ok, asdf.

Thank you for setting up the matching fund. I just forwarded you my confirmation email.

As far as rebuilding, the Port of New Orleans is an important gateway to the Mississippi. Surely it will have to be rebuilt. I also hope the city itself can survive in some form. It would be a shame to completely lose a city of such historical and cultural significance .

Anonymous 01 Sep 05

I just sent my confirmation mail, too. Thanks so much, 37signals.

clight 01 Sep 05

Hello All, I feel compelled to respond. Am a transplant from Pensacola, FL, but recently moved from Mississippi to Illinois and have been through many hurricanes. Hurricane Ivan was a Cat. 1 and the destruction was horrible. News coverage in Mississippi (north) was pretty good, locals in MS and TN were helping the coast and we drove in large groups assisting cleanup, assisting the eldery and disabled, deliverying food and water also, etc. To get to my point, knowing that a Cat. 4 hitting LA and MS was going to be devistating and loss of life was going to happen. What irratates me the most is that here in IL, there is very little coverage, very little response. There appears to be an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality, which is disgusting. People are dying every day from this. How many more people are stuck in attics, on roofs, or can’t get the medicine they need to live? And the media (and/or some public) is worried about about the HS football and other irrelevant (should be) info, which apparently is more important than what is going on down south.

Bravo to 37S for the matching funds. It’s great to see and know that a non-corporation without some type of public interest is involved to this degree is helping.

just venting. Thanks, Clight

ne 01 Sep 05

yeah, yeah. relief your souls. have the world cry for you.

Jase 01 Sep 05

I want to donate, but I’m conflicted about supporting the Red Cross. While the organization’s charity work is admirable, the fact that they bar gay men from donating blood has always bothered me. It doesn’t matter whether you practice safe sex, are monogamous, etc. — if you’re a man who has sex with men, you cannot donate blood. Period. No similar rule applies to heterosexual people, even those engaging in unsafe sex, since all blood is tested anyway.

So… I want to donate, but maybe not to the Red Cross. Surely the readers here can recommend some other worthy agencies who need our help to support the disaster victims?

SH 01 Sep 05

I typically donate to Oxfam each year (and for events like the tsunami, etc.), but I’m not going to for the hurrican relief simply because they don’t”>http://www.oxfam.org/eng”>don’t seem to be taking action. I was pretty disappointed when I flew to their website to see where and what I could donate and found nothing regarding Katrina.

I know Feed The Children is sending relief supplies, but they are a denominational organization, so some people might not want to contribute through them. Habitat For Humanity is also going to be sending large crews to NoLA and Mississippi, and they might be a good outlet for your charitable energies. Other than that, I’m stumped too for who else to donate to/through.

SH 01 Sep 05

Sorry, here’s links to Feed the Children and Habitat.

Erin 01 Sep 05

Network for Good (http://www.networkforgood.org/) has a good listing of reputable organizations assisting with various types of aid. I donated to Second Harvest, which is supplying food, and the Humane Society, which is helping to rescue and find shelter for trapped/abandoned pets.

Yahoo! is linking to Network for Good of its news page.

Mark 01 Sep 05

Sarah and others -

This is a real chance to get creative with the help. If you’re not comfortable with one of the agencies, try coming up with something on your own.

Some of the “out of box” things I can think of at the moment -

- gift cards from stores / restaurants / visa / amex
- job links you might be aware of that aren’t posted at the major boards
- links to homes / shelters available
- offer to pay for a few days of a hotel stay for a displaced family
- offer to pay for some time for a rental car
- offer to pay for Internet cafe time

How do you get this to where it needs to go? Call up your local radio station, (Clear Channel has stations all over the US) surely they can direct you in a good direction as far as placement centers and information in Texas, Louisiana and other areas.

The possibilities are endless. Giving to the Red Cross (or name your favorite organization) is only the beginning.

Brandon Arbini 01 Sep 05

Also, the New Orleans Mission was hit hard and destroyed. They provide roughly 46% of the homeless services in the city. The organization I work for is trying to raise money to help provide temporary services and rebuild the mission. If you interested in contributing visit our disaster relief page. Thanks!

J Cornelius 01 Sep 05

As many of you know CoffeeCup Software is a socially active company. In the past our users have raised over 1 million dollars for September 11th efforts and over $50,000 dollars for victims of the Asian Tsunami.

Hurricane Katrina has given us a different challenge. We have accessed the situation and have found a way we can all help. Since CoffeeCup Software is located in Corpus Christi, Texas (a couple of hours south of Houston), we are calling upon anyone who receives this e-mail to send ‘Goods’ to our office. This will directly help the thousands upon thousands of American refugees that will be entering Houston, Beaumont, and througout Texas within the next days and weeks.

Our office will collect what you send and will drive these items by cargo truck to the refugees where they are located. Over 25,000 people will arrive at the Houston Astrodome tonight and we expect many waves of refugees over the next month. We will collect items for the next 60 days and will make trips once a week or more as needed.

Currently many Charitable organizations are overwhelmed and we want to make sure the Families and Children will be given what they really need without wait. Send as much as you wish, we have plenty of storage.

Some items we believe they need are:

Diapers, Baby Wipes, Infant Care Items
Personal Care Items (soap, razors, shaving cream, toothpaste, hygeine items)
Clothing (socks, underwear, shirts, shoes, pants, shirts)
Long Distance Calling Cards, Batteries, FM Radios, Walkie-Talkies
Toys (coloring books, crayons, puzzles, any activity toy)
and more….

Our Address is:

CoffeeCup Software
c/o Hurricane Aid
226 South Tancahua Street
Corpus Christi, Texas 78401


You can also order things online at places like Amazon.com, WalMart.com, Target.com, and others and have them sent directly to our offices as well.

Please do not send food, water, or money. This will be handled by Organized Charities. Send what you would personally want if you were placed in a very uncomfortbale position for a very long time with little or no money (use your best judgement).

We will be documenting our efforts by Web Cam and Pictures and these will be posted on our Website soon.

“We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.”
- Sir Winston Churchill



SH 01 Sep 05

Wonderful, thanks so much for posting this!

Lisa 01 Sep 05

Thank you so much JF.

My family and friends who are residents of the area are very grateful.

Ross 01 Sep 05

Katrina restored my faith in Karma…

Lisa 01 Sep 05

Katrina restored my faith in Karma…

Real nice Ross.

Mike 02 Sep 05

I know this is already a stale post, but Ross, buddy… next time your entire world is destroyed and you have to start over along with 1.3 million others, many of whom have lost family members, remember your own statement on Karma. If what goes around comes around, it will come around to you, friend.

My house in Slidell is gone. My family in New Orleans is homeless. My family in Mississippi is homeless. Hell, their entire city (Waveland) is completely off the map now. My entire network of friends is scattered across the nation finding new places to live and new jobs.

I also have family in Sri Lanka, whom through our help in simple family and community networking funnelled in $70k alone to directly help them.

Karma, Ross?

Other Ross 02 Sep 05

For clarification purposes, the Ross on the donation list isn’t Ross of the comment above.

Mike 02 Sep 05

One bad (well, perhaps misguided) Ross doesn’t spoil the barrel!

Jennifer Greenhill 02 Sep 05

Hi! I would like to find out how I can get information on how my greataunt and greatcousins are doing in Mississippi. Please email me if you know any websites that I can use to find my relatives. My email is jennitiggercpt101@yahoo.com

sonhe34 02 Sep 05

Everyone should donate something! We have a lot more than the victims of the hurricane. That is, 0 to + 100. So anybody out there, that’s so heartless as to not give anything to the victims, are sure to be selfish.

sonhe34 02 Sep 05

Oh yeah, and think about what I said.

Britt 02 Sep 05

Who is this Ross guy, and what the hell did he mean by that “karma” comment? What an insensitive asshole. My faith will be restored in Karma when he goes to hell.

Amanda 03 Sep 05

I would like to know where I can send some clothes, shoes, food, neccesities, etc.? Please try and help me out to help someone else that needs our help, and send me an address.

Ex-HomelessGuy 03 Sep 05

I know people were warneed about a possible category 5 hurricane, but I still have a coulple questions bothering me:

Wonder what the homeless (previously homeless, not even mentioning the current homeless amd missing persons) people did before tropical storm Katrina hit? Were the homless & mentally ill people even rounded up by buses to help evacuate them? From what I hear, there was no help to get out those suffering from poverty or homelessness (these people did not have the means to get out), it was almost fend for yourself unless you were hospitalized by the sounds of things!

What happened to prisoners in jails? Were they moved to ‘higher ground’ before the storm in preparation?

Anonymous Coward 03 Sep 05

Were the homless & mentally ill people even rounded up by buses to help evacuate them?

Great question, and to me, the key question. The reason there is suffering isn’t because Bush didn’t do this or that, it’s because the LOCAL government didn’t do their job. They didn’t get the people out. Not the mayor, not the governor. The local gov’t is supposed to take care of their own first and then request federal aid if they can’t get everyone out BEFORE the disaster. If the local gov’t is going to bitch that the feds didn’t get aid there fast enough after the storm then the local gov’t needs to ask itself why is aid needed in the first place? It’s because you didn’t do your job. Buildings don’t need aid, people need aid, and many poor folks were in the city because the local gov’t didn’t do all they could to get them out.

It’s so so so sad.

jeevs sinclair 04 Sep 05

if you guys would like to expand your matching offer , you could sponsor prints that are being auctioned for charity via the flickr-katrina-fundraiser .
the fundraiser is auctioning prints donated by flickr members and purchase is proven by a red cross receipt.
what i’m suggesting is 37signals could offer to pay for the print which is then sold. just an idea for helping out some flickr photographers who’d like to do what they can to help out but can’t quite afford it.

[ http://url123.com/3p733 ]
if you guys like the idea , i’d strongly recommend either white house custom color [http://whcc.com] or mpix [http://mpix.com] as printers , both offer very professional product including complete mounting options

just a thought

ek 04 Sep 05

While the intent is admirable, these sorts of auctioning schemes seem to be missing the underlying point here, which is that there hundreds of thousands of people in need of urgent assistance.

Who’s being helped here by the introduction of a commerce/exchange of goods component?

Why not keep it simple and donate money/goods/time now vs. going through the machinations of an auction? Or, if you’re a company, do as 37s and many others kind hearted co’s have done and institute a funds match of some sort to amplify the effect.

If there was ever a time to keep things simple, this is it.

Angie B 04 Sep 05

i need to find out how to set up one of those visa accounts or an online account for a family member stuck in new orleans. anybody now where or how i can do that?

Tom Arnold 04 Sep 05

I have a small house in Monroe Connecticut, and I can temporarily accommodate two or three refugees from Katrina.

Please let me know how I can offer the house to needy survivors. I may be able to assist with transport to the house.

Thank you.
Tom Arnold, Connecticut cell phone 203-260-8446

homelessjess 05 Sep 05

I am a victim of Hurricane Katrina. I used to live in Long Beach, MS, but it practically doesn’t exist anymore. I’m homeless now, since a 30ft+ storm surge took my house and everything in it. I’m grateful to have my life and my family. I do not expect pity, but it seems like everyone forgot about MS. My whole life is gone. Where I worked, banked, shopped and went to school is now gone or damaged. I do not know about my friends, coworkers, or neighbors. I’m certain that more than a few are now dead. I haven’t heard from anyone. I heard that a lot of colleges are accepting and giving free tution in some cases to students displaced by Katrina, so I did some research. Only one college is accepting students from my college in MS. All other schools are ONLY taking students from Louisiana. What about me and the others like me? What am I supposed to do? It’s a bad scene in LA too, but they seem to up to their eyeballs in coverage and assistance in comparison to MS cities, except for Gulfport and Biloxi (towns with casinos). We left MS on friday to stay with family in FL because we couldn’t buy gas or food, shower, or call our family and could smell dead people from our shelter. God help us all. What are we supposed to do now?

Marcus 05 Sep 05

Ryan,

sorry that I could not respond to you earlier. I agree to your opinion, but if you read closely it’s not the action of helping that I did critzise, but the way that the USA handles this catastrophy. I live in Austria, where we had floodings a week before, and lots of guys lost all their belongings. Help from government was a matter of hours, not days or weeks. Neiter did we ask for international help, nor did we repell people because of their social status, skin color or wealth… as it seems it is the case within the south of US.

Please - I’m not critizising anyone who does help, nor I do not want you getting angry with me! What I want to express is that the social status of US seems to sink whilst they (the “americans”) struggle in vain comprehending the situtation…

auctioncutioner 05 Sep 05

Unfortunantly the Hurricane season is only half over,and there very well may be another huge storm in the near future.
So while some may state at the present it isnt an appropriate time to evaluate what went wrong with the system.
I beleive the continued threat is real,and we need to evaluate and assess what went wrong.
This same type of thinking of waiting,and putting something off till another day is why so much disorientation took place in the last week.
Its true the point that an earlier poster made,that the Federal government acts only upon petition from the Governor of a state.
Ultimately whoms to blame falls upon local and county governments.
Of course they want to put the blame on big brother.
(uncle Sam,etc).
The fact is local governments make up Federal legislation,and how departments operate.
Fema,has indeed undergone a massive restructuring,unfortunantly weve learnd from experience that Fema has not worked efficiantly enough.
This is primarily because of Fema’s parental objective is associated to a differant type of threat,terrorism.
This leaves actual emergency management to be operated under local,and county governments.
I live in a state thats highly prone to hurricanes,thankfully the last direct hit was hurricane hugo in 1989,(one is overdue now)hitting Charleston S.C.
The whole eastern coast of S.C. was devastated.
The next morning at daybreak me and my brother left the church and headed back to the coast,before reaching the waterway bridge national guards were already deployed,blocking any non-local traffic,we knew the backroads better than the guards and we went around their road block and drove down ocean blvd,guards were patrolling the streets with M16 rifles,tanks,and armoured vehicles.
we were told that the city was closed to all traffic,so we promptly left.
buildings,and houses were a pile of sticks just like New Orleans.
Up untill hurricane Andrew Hugo was the most costliest hurricane to have ever hit the U.S at a little over $6,000,000,000(billion).
The best was that very few lives were lost.
Evacution was ordered promptly,and transportation was provided for those whom could not move themselves.
Nursing homes were ordered to remove the elderly to another location,west of the waterway.
Inter coastal waterway can be travelled from Florida all the way into Canada.
And tourists were ordered to be evacuated 2 days prior to Hugo’s arrival.
Afterwards local and county governments reassessed the situation to find out what needed improvement.
Of course designated hurricane evacution routes,and adequate roads were foremost.(Finally DONE)
Powerlines were equipped with anti-break clips(latches when under heavy winds disconnect,and power is re routed)this cuts down on the time needed to restore power significantly,and the costs involved in time and money in replacing the lines.(we have a coop power member ownend non profit)
Otherwise if a line breaks the whole section has to be replaced.
What helped the most was that S.C. dredged the waterway to increase its capacity help preventing massive flooding,we are at sea level.
additionally sea walls were built in the beach renourishment program,by dredging the Atlantic and pumping the beach sand onto the beach,the sea wall is primarily made up of huge granite rock this definantly helps the erosion from washing out the roads that were destroyed by the initial storm surge.
Another problem I have witnessed is how the mayor of New Orleans remarked they couldnt use school buses to transport evacuees,they should have been used once the evacution was ordered.
Also I would like to comment about the statement the Governor of Louisianna made,about identifying every person that were stealing as theives,while stealing a television,and other electronic items serves no purpose than to gain profit from someone elses misery,and they should be punished,but if it were someone stealing clothing,food,and survival neccessitive items then no they are not theives,if my family was in immediate neccessitate need id provide for them to the best of my ability,short of threatening someone,or hurting others.
Its clear that most of those items would have been claimend off by insurance claims as damaged,particularily since the waters were still rising at the time.
Above everything else we must remember that the people cannot count on government.
But emergency management must start with the mayors office,with local hospitals,rescue,fire,and ambulance services then cordinate with surrounding cities,then on a county level,reaching to the legislatures,and governor of the state.
This preparedness then must be in association with the surrounding states,so they are capable of working and communicating togeather.
It would seem that we as a nation would have realised the problem of communication,not just who is to talk with whom,but the actual infrastructure of our communications network,as we are becomming more and more of a wireless nation those thousands of towers that depend on local power to operate is not adequate,we learnend that on september 11th.
4 years later it haunts us again.
Our dependancy on wireless communications durring a disaster is a total failure.
Our police,have gone wireless in their patrol cars,had they still had shortwave communications good ole boy cb’s they could have at least communicated.

Sal Hall 07 Sep 05

Open Letter: Ideas on rebuilding

Voices have been raised to say that New Orleans should not be
rebuilt, or be rebuilt along hurricane-resistant/flood resistant
guidelines.
There is no doubt that rebuilding will take place. The port and
petroleum infrastructures are vital; the tourist industry is
profitable. The question is what will be rebuilt, and by and for whom.

President Bush has warned against price gouging. If federal funding
is available in any form, investors from outside will quickly move
in - indeed are “buying up entire industries” - to make profits that
will pour out of the city and region. The reconstruction effort will
quickly be taken over.

Meanwhile, small contractors, artisans and craftsmen - some of whom
have irreplacable traditional skills -, and a large pool of unskilled
and semi-skilled labor who have fled the city will be seeking to put
their skills to work in functioning economies in other cities - and
perhaps never return home.

It is true that any rebuilding sould follow strict storm-resistant
guidelines. But in order to help rebuild New Orleans’s economy along
with its buildings, those guidelines should also require that the
rebuilding be done to the extent possible by local contractors and
craftsmen who would be given preference and encouragement to return,
and with local labor.

Apprenticeship programs should be part of these guidelines so that
young people from the city, instead of being scattered in refugee
camps around the South and the US, could be housed near their own
city and help rebuild it while learning a trade.

Measures need to be taken now by federal, state, and local
authorities to ensure that the rebuilding of New Orleans benefits her
own people and not outside investors.

- 0 -

Ned 07 Sep 05

Does this mean you kept the money and sent $5,000
via Corp. credit card ?

Ned 07 Sep 05

Does this mean you kept the money and sent $5,000
via Corp. credit card ?

JF 07 Sep 05

Kept the money? What money? All the money that was donated by SvN readers was donated directly to the Red Cross.

Shelby 07 Sep 05

hay,
stop arguing and pursuade people to help! this has been done before. we’ve survived! they don’t need people argueing if hurricanes getting more relief money or if the other million natural disasters are. help all that you can cause it might happen to you and you would want help. wouldn’t you? we can all help in some way!!!

jordy 07 Sep 05

thanks i’ve been waiting for someone to step up and defend them! everyone can help just like you said. we all need help in life when you want it or not. you can get halp anywhere. in this case its all over the world.

nomad 07 Sep 05

help the victims!!!!!!!!!!!!

The People 08 Sep 05

To Ross and Lisa,

My faith will be restored in Karma when you die. Leave these people alone you fuckers!!

jb 08 Sep 05

Article from National Geographic - Louisiana Hurricane.
Be sure and read down to the 5th paragraph…

Alvin & Linda 08 Sep 05

We Are In San Francisco California…. We Would Like To Help anyone in need of help please call us at (415) 724-2698 we will help you with what we are able to pertaining to food shelter and clothing….. God Bless All…. please feel free to call us…

JoB 09 Sep 05

I had heard a news commentator state that Habitat for Humanity has already set in motion a rebuilding effort in the gulf coast area. As I have heard that a very high percent of their donations go directly to project vs. administration I would be interested in learning where to send donations.

I am in the process of organizing a fundraising effort where all the waitstaff and bartenders in small area in SW Florida will donate 100% of their tips on a designated day with the restaurants and bar owners matching funds. Would love to hear of other localities doing the same… even the small guys want to help and collectively we can make a difference.

Anon but willing to help 09 Sep 05

What do you make of the care givers employed by various retirement/convalescent homes who strapped helpless patients in their care (now “victims”) to their beds in order to save themselves?

I think they should be considered murderers and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Do you?

Beth 14 Sep 05

we had heard that the gov’t was offering up money per month for those who wanted to go down and help with the clean up after this devistation, for such things as food and lodging, do you know if this is true? I know it sounds selfish since the folks down there need help, but I am not rich but I would like to go down and help out. I have family in both Florida and in Alabama, thankfully they are ok!

carl 31 Jan 06

im sorry 2 hear about what as happened to all people and i am currently looking for volentary work and i would love to come over and help all the familys of the victims!

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