Hurricane Katrina: How to Help Us

The local churches have opened their doors to Hurricane Katrina refugees from Louisiana and Mississippi. There are hundreds and hundreds of them. There is no places for the refugees to stay, so our churches have welcomed them, often with the help of the Red Cross. I am so proud to live in the Bible Belt, where there are many generous churches. We all went through Hurricane Ivan last September, which hit us dead on. We are a more generous community than I think we would have been a year ago.

Our area is affected by Hurricane Katrina, too, but we are already healing. Our electricity is being restored, a few gas stations are pumping, the phones are being fixed, and the stores are slowly reopening. The roads are being repaired. Some houses are totally destroyed, but we can rebuild. We have hope, unlike many of the refugees.

Tomorrow, our family will cross the Florida border into Alabama and return home after having been in my hometown of Pensacola, Florida for two nights to wait for our electricity and phone to be restored at home.

Tim still can't go back to his job, but we feel that we are needed back in Alabama to help the victims. Tim's place of employment is still flooded and the beaches where he worked are ruined. So, he is going to make good use of his free time, and take some tools, gas, Fix-A-Flat and water up and down I-10 (this road runs from Florida to California) until he runs out of gas or money. After Hurricane Ivan, we had 5 flat tires in just two weeks. There isn't a federal program for that!

A couple of you sent me money to help the refugees. I plan to volunteer at a local church shelter, and I will make sure your money gets to the ones who need it for gas and food to get back home to Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. We will also keep an eye out for those who may need your cash while we are on the road.

Some of you have asked what else the victims need. I'll first tell you what the organizations provided, based on my first-hand experience in Hurricane Ivan. The Red Cross provided shelters and food and water. The Salvation Army provided hot food and water. The Southern Baptists provided laundry services, debris removal, and hot meals. FEMA provided ice, water, and meals-ready-to-eat. After a couple of weeks, they provided trailers for those who did not have a home. Later, much later, they provided cash reimbursements for evacuating and for food loss, but the aid was sporadic.

Based on that, you can see a big gap. There is nobody providing diapers, non-perishable foods, shampoo, formula, body wash, cleaning supplies, and items such as those. Nobody has a program for handing out clothing.

If you want to get those items to me, I can get them into the hands of the churches (the Church of Christ is one) and organizations who will be willing to pass them out. I can also put the items into the hands of the refugees that I will personally see at the shelter.

If you want to donate cash online, see my donate link above this post. Please don't apologize for a small amount. We are handing this out as cash, so any amount is helpful. Even $5 can buy a hot meal for one person.

If you want to mail a check or mail items, email me at dreamwords@bellsouth.net for mailing details.

I'm not a charity organization, keep in mind. But I promise on my Bible that I will be honest with your money and your donated items.

I think that with our first-hand knowledge of what hurricane victims need, and with your generosity, we can help quite a number of people.

Thank you so much!
by Lori Seaborg