OT: Necessities for Katrina Victims

Do you think perhaps with the price of shipping a package, a monetary contribution might be better. If you gave it to one of the bigger organizations I think they would use it to buy whatever is needed and you could save the postage.

Lucille.

I`ll send something light and useful, like panties, teeshirts etc., so the postage won`t be prohibitive, Lucille - I don`t give money to the big organisations in particular. It`s well known that too much of it is spent on admin. and "fund-raising banquets".

I just this minute saw the News, and there was a lorryload od relief stuff from Houston - and they said they had "EVERYTHING" you could think of on the lorry - including Babywipes!!! Had to chuckle at that, I must confess. I`d send some myself, but they ARE too heavy to post. All we can do is send what we think is best and most needed. What we`d most value as assistance ourselves, in fact.

Non prescription drugs such as Immodium, (diarrhoea control) would be REALLY useful in the current situation, too.

Pat P

I was thinking the same thing. The wisdom here is give it to the Red Cross in your own country, with a statement it is for the ARC for Katrina. They are good people and administer their funds well and you can feel the high cost of postage then gets used for about ten bars of soap or something.

That's what I did and I shall repeat it again next month, guess they will still be open for business then too, perhaps even needing it more when the knee jerk response fades.

I`ll probably do both - particularly as I had another win on "Ernie" and one on the lottery this weekend! LOL!

Pat P

Oh pipe down ye auld GOW!

Hee hee! It was Carolyn bringing me luck!

Pat P

And that would be because, if I don't outline chapter and verse of what I want to say, someone misreads or misunderstands and goes off on a tangent. Happened anyway even with all my specificity of verbiage!! And that would be taking my ball and going home -- I don't stamp my feet or skip rope -- the knees can't handle it any more and it's far too ladylike for MOI.

Right, because some people skipped over the specificity as too long to read.

Elizabeth

More likely they don't particularly care for me. Mayhap this is a case of the "pot(s) calling the kettle black" =8-o . CiaoMeow >^;;^<

Tia Mary wrote: > brown

Track down the managers of your local grocery stores and ask for a donation from each of them. Probably better yet if it's a chain that uses brown paper bags with handles. I could easily get a hundred or so Safeway bags for the library book sale. One year, a local chain which prints editorials on their bags happened to have one about the value of reading in the month of the book sale. They thought it was a hoot that I liked their essay (and that it matched the cause) and delivered a whole case of them.

Check the Red Cross website. Also the local newspapers: New Orleans Times-Picayune, and in Mississippi, the Sun Herald, Clarion Ledger, and Gulf Coast News, probably have info on their websites for how to donate.

I'm advised that Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida, will be "adopting" a hurricane-damaged town as a Pay It Forward for the help their people received last year after Ivan. They have a website, from which you can e-mail the pastor about what they want/need for their project, and whether they will be continuing this through Christmas (when you can safely send unmelted chocolate, crackers, and other fun stuff for which money will be in short supply).

Given the size of the church, I expect they have capacity for processing credit card payments from those overseas.

Pat, you will be pleased to know that one of our local churches *has* thought of over-the-counter medication.

The Red Cross says "monetary donations are the best".

particularly care for me" is a

AHH but, by and large, the people here are kind, generous folk, regardless of whether or not they like someone. If they saw the header about the victims, I think they would read it whether or not they like the person posting. I think what happened is what often happens. People get interested in a specific aspect at the beginning of a thread and go off on a tangent with their responses. The info posted would have been helpful if I was interested in general necessities. Since I was looking for specific input, the general posts were not helpful to me. CiaoMeow >^;;^<

I've been watching all these posts with interest. The Red Cross or Salvation Army is *the* way to go, IMNSHO. When we had our flood in '97 I really don't know what we would have done without them!!!! They had sites set up shortly after the flood occurred. Once people could get back to their flooded homes, the RC drove through all the affected areas with *free* hot meals for people. What a blessing that was! The Salvation Army set up centers to pick up whatever clothes/shoes, etc. people could use. I still have a can (empty, as a souvenir) from Anheuser-Busch; they trucked in thousands of cases of drinking water in these cans. So, IME, money to the RC or SA is the right choice.

Joan (BTDT, unfortunately)

Glad to hear this Joan - I believe both those organizations have skills built from lots of practice we wish they did not have, but they do. Neither, IMO, are organizations who waste the cash sent to them.

The organization I'm sending my donation to (the United Methodist Commision on Relief in Louisiana - I have a sort of connection there) requested supplies rather than money so they don't have to send someone out shopping for the items to put in their kits. Plus they reduce the likelihood of depleting local supply.

From a Methodist minister friend of mine in another group:

The UMCOR (United Methodist Commision on Relief) depot in Baldwin, (about 50 miles NW of New Orleans) is taking in kind donations. They have space to sort and distribute from there. They especially are asking for cleaning supplies, but also towels and washcloths, combs, soap, toothpaste & toothbrushes, band-aids, diapers, and baby gowns and sleepers.

They ship disaster relief supplies all over the world, so they don?t guarentee that donations go to a particular place, but the local need because of Katrina is wiping out their supply of emergency ?kits,? containing the above items. As long as there?s need, they?ll be distributing them there.

Ship to: UMCOR Sager Brown Depot, P.O. Box 850, 131 Sager Brown Road, Baldwin, LA 70514-085

The news that the Red Cross are allowing people to keep their pets with them has swung me, anyway.

Pat P