Comments on: Katrina

By: Caroline Hamilton

Caroline Hamilton — Sat, 03 Sep 2005 15:16:30 +0000

I'd like to find a place to donate lots of school supplies for the displaced children now in Texas and Northern Louisiana. Any ideas for me? - Caroline

By: nancy p b

nancy p b — Sat, 03 Sep 2005 14:04:21 +0000

I am moved to volunteer & help…I have limitations on my physical energy…and would like to read aloud to children. Is someone doing this at a shelter and if anyone knows…is this even a welcomed idea? I will bring books that I will then leave wherever I read.
Could someone offer an idea of what I CAN do.
I am looking at other sites offered and making phone calls…so-far no idea and don’t want to be part of the problem…just make a small differnce?

By: Logan

Logan — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 19:26:46 +0000

Kudos on your efforts to bring relief to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. There is another way bloggers and other thoughtful people can help:

I have opened forums at http://www.DisasterReliefIdeas.org for the discussion of ideas to aid disaster relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I am not soliciting donations, only ideas. Experts in aspects of disaster relief (housing, healthcare, rebuilding, etc.) are also able to rate these ideas, giving us a means of identifying the most promising ones, which will be shared with disaster relief professionals and persons in authority. Please help our society by contributing your ideas, especially if you are unable to contribute financially to relief efforts.

By: Martin L. Martens

Martin L. Martens — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 13:45:21 +0000

I’m sure that Universities across North America currently have open positions.

Wouldn’t it make sense to offer temporary jobs to academics from LSU, Tulane, and other universities that have been closed by the disaster and will likely remain closed for quite some time.

By: gzombie

gzombie — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 02:34:59 +0000

I make this offer in all seriousness: I will send a bag of absolutely incredible stone ground grits (along with recipes for what to do with said grits, including a N’awlins-appropriate shrimp-and-grits recipe) to the first 25 people who contact me with evidence (in the form of an electronic receipt, or your word of honor) that they have donated $100 to the relief effort. Contact me at non.zombie at gmail dot com.

By: random

random — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 23:43:14 +0000

re: donations, just a note that DreamHost (CrookedTimber is with them, right?) are matching donations through the web panel dollar for dollar. You can take advantage of their generosity by setting up a donation link and forwarding the money on. :)

By: Ted

Ted — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 23:16:29 +0000

Jet, I sure hope that that attitude holds. I’ve been thinking about the impact that tens of thousands of destitute people will have on Houston in a month or so. Luckily, Houston is very large, so it can absorb a lot of people. Unfortunately, it’s next to impossible to live here without a car.

By: Maria

Maria — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 23:08:53 +0000

By the by, I know of a college student who was evacuated from N.O. and has just been offered free tuition by a small school in northern California. There is amazing generosity from people in all walks of life doing their bit to help those affected.

By: jet

jet — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 23:02:02 +0000

The Governor of Texas was on Foxnews saying that the Katrina refugess that come to Texas will be offered job training and help with relocation anywhere in the State. He did take the oppurtunity to brag about the “booming” economy there and that Texas was “a big state” that could handle all the new people. Got to love that.

By: Ted

Ted — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 22:26:12 +0000

No, I hadn’t seen it. Thanks. I’ll put up a link.

By: Nada

Nada — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 22:16:03 +0000

Have you seen hurricanehousing.org ? It's a bulletin board for people within driving distance of disaster epicenter to post rooms/etc available as temporary housing. I think it would be great if you mentioned it here. I imagine that many of the people who need temporary shelter the most will have no way of seeing the site, of course, but with enough offers up on the site, it could become a great resource for non-profit coordinators. Just getting all this information in one place is a great first step...