Hi Guys, Just thought someone might be interested in this site...
Tia Mary said
I agree with Sue. I am a GS leader and my girls have expressed an interest in helping out. I am trying to gently steer them to look closely at need in our backyard as well. Additionally, help in many communities (mine included) will help Katrina victims, as they are being relocated and need to start from scratch.
The last time I heard a statistic here, the wait was like 9.5 years to get to the top of the subsidized housing list.
Anne, bite your tongue for saying the "B" word -- it's not polite to curse in public! One thing about the Network For Good site -- it let's you designate how you want your donation used. That's, of course, is assuming they pay attention to your request!!!! CiaoMeow >^;;^<
After 9/11 DD's facility (transitional housing for homeless young adults) got barely ONE PERCENT of their regular donations! They were so hard pressed for money just to buy food for the kids that DD was feeding them mac & cheese or hot dogs & beans -- food that had been donated and kept in the dry pantry or freezer -- almost every night. I finally started going to Costco to buy & send a gift card every week so she could at least buy milk for the kids. Once the word got out to the regular donors, they started remembering the "regular" every-day charities. Remembering these local charities is even more important now since the victims are scattered all over North America. Local charities, food banks, etc. are the ones who will have to give these folks food and clothing and bedding, etc. Regardless of what the Red Cross or The Salvation Army, etc. do, it's ultimately the regular folks who will be keeping these charitable organizations stocked with stuff for the evacuees. CiaoMeow >^;;^<
Not sure who posted (maybe it was Sue) but someone here was quite involved in the "aftermath" work last year in Florida after the hurricanes. One thing I remember her posting was that there is a HUGE need for crafty stuff for the kids. Most of them will be in school soon if they aren't already but if they are living in evac centers, they will be desperate for things to kept them busy and out of trouble. Maybe your GS troop could do something along those lines? It would be something they would have first hand knowledge of and probably enjoy working on. As a back up to this, when I went to the local church to ask about bringing my donations to them, one of the things they specifically said was needed was stuff to keep the kids busy -- both here and in the Gulf States. I went to the local dollar store and bought a bunch of coloring books of all sorts (especially ones with boy stuff) and crayons, colored pencils, marking pens, paper, activity books, etc. I had one pile for the kids here and another to be sent south. From the time I had been at the church in the AM to the time I went back with a load of stuff in the early PM, they had already sent everything off in a big truck. The churches in the area are sending twice weekly truck loads of supplies to the Gulf so I know my meager gifts got to where they are needed. CiaoMeow >^;;^<
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