Hurricane Katrina Victims Need Help

[Sonia]

If you would like to donate to the relief effort for victims of Hurricane Katrina, you may donate money and/or clothing or other essentials to the following charities. We are also including charities that can help save the animals and pets in the region. Please feel free to add your own favorite charities to this list. The need is great!

American Red Cross, Tel: 1-800-480-4403, 1-800-284-3361
http://www.redcross.org

American Veterinary Medical Assistance "AVMA", http://www.avma.org, or On-line donations (http://www.avmf.org)

Salvation Army, Tel 1-800-Sal-Army, http://www.salvationarmyusa.org
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[RPinky]

What a great editorial from a newspaper that covers the hardest hit area of Mississippi.

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Tue, Sep. 06, 2005

Editorial

Thank you, thank you, thank you


Sun Herald

We will never know all their names. We may not ever have a complete list of all the companies and churches and organizations and communities that have poured relief into South Mississippi.

But each and every individual, each and every business and company and corporation, each and every charitable and religious organization and every single individual and community that is sharing its time and treasure with us has our unending thanks and appreciation.

South Mississippi is a proud region, not just of the Magnolia State, but of the nation. Our residents have long been known for getting the job done themselves.

But not this job.

Hurricane Katrina stripped us of much of our own resources and overwhelmed the resources it did not leave in ruins.

So to everyone who has come forward ... more hugs than we can ever deliver in person.

And it is not just those wonderful men and women we see out on the street and at the distribution centers and shelters. It is also those men and women behind the scenes who make it possible for those frontline personnel to be on the frontline.

It is not just the linemen from a distant power company who are helping us, it is also those communities and families they left behind who are willing to forgo their services and companionship while they are here with us.

And within our own communities, for every person at a press conference, there are countless others who make such activities possible. People who keep the people in the limelight fed and who provide them with as clean an area as possible to do their work.

There are so many to thank. So many who deserve so much appreciation.

We must not let our visitors leave without knowing how much they have done for us.

And we must not let those South Mississippians among us who are doing so much for their neighbors go any longer without knowing how much their efforts are appreciated.

Not only are our emergency agency personnel our heroes, so are the men and women willing and able to get some of our businesses up and running. Yes, the lines are long and tiresome. But at least there is usually something at the end of that line and someone willing to put up with our eagerness to get it.

We once heard of an experiment where people were sent out to randomly select strangers and thank them. They didn't say for what. They just said thanks. Most of the time, the strangers accepted the thanks without question, believing that there was indeed something that someone ought to thank them for.

Well, we wish we could walk up to every person on their feet in South Mississippi and say thank you. Because we know - and they certainly know - that they are doing quite a bit to be thanked for.

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This editorial represents the views of the Sun Herald editorial board: President-Publisher Ricky R. Mathews, Vice President and Executive Editor Stan Tiner, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Flora S. Point, Opinion Page Editor Marie Harris and Associate Editor Tony Biffle.

[RPinky]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Maria Pignataro
September 2, 2005 Press Secretary
201-547-4836

ADVISORY ADVISORY ADVISORY

JERSEY CITY JOINS RELIEF EFFORTS IN WAKE OF KATRINA CATASTROPHE
Mayor Healy Pleas For Outpouring of Donors & Volunteers

JERSEY CITY, NJ – The City of Jersey City and the Office of Mayor are in the preparatory phase for deployment of resources and personnel to assist the victims of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy has called a Local Emergency Planning Council meeting for next week to discuss how the city can best assist the relief effort in the Gulf Coast region.

Acting Governor Richard Codey has requested through the New Jersey State Police that the deployment of manpower to the region be conducted in an organized manner, and therefore is being handled on an “as-requested” basis.

In the wake of the devastation, the Red Cross Bergen-Hudson Chapter will hold a training seminar for any residents who would like to volunteer their time to the relief effort in New Orleans. The training will be held on Wednesday, September 7, at 4pm at the Red Cross local office, located at 26 Greenville Avenue, between Old Bergen Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard. Those who wish to donate can do so through the following:

MAIL: Red Cross Bergen-Hudson Chapter
26 Greenville Avenue
Jersey City, NJ
(Checks and Money Orders only)

WEB: www.redcross.org

PHONE: 1-800-HELP-NOW

Jersey City Office of Emergency Management will be hosting additional Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training programs to train Jersey City employees, residents, and the professional community on how to volunteer for deployment. Red Cross training will also be integrated into the program. CERT gives local residents an opportunity to receive hands-on and in-the-field training to respond to a wide range of emergencies.
(more)
-2-

Jersey City residents with someone missing in the Hurricane Katrina disaster areas are urged to register their information at the National Next of Kin Registry by going to their web site at www.nokr.org. The National Next of Kin Registry is a free service to the public that passes along vital information to emergency authorities about people who may be missing, injured, or deceased. By registering a potential victim, you can help local and state agencies to locate families for those affected by the tragedy.

For more information about the Red Cross and its relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina, inquiries may be made by calling 201-652-3210.


# # #


For all media inquiries, please contact Maria Pignataro, Press Secretary, at 201-547-4836 or pignatarom@jcnj.org.

[RPinky]

September 9, 2005
Contact:Stan H. Eason, Dir. of Communications
(201) 547-5808,
Maria Pignataro, Press Secretary
(201) 547-4836

JERSEY CITY DELIVERS!
MAYOR JERRAMIAH T. HEALY: "OPERATION BIG BROTHER, A HELPING HAND"

JERSEY CITY- Mayor Jerramiah Healy announced that the city will adopt
Lake Charles La. in its efforts to assist in the recovery of the
families devastated on Gulf Coast States by Hurricane Katrina.

Healy announced that he is signing a Municipal executive Order that
will make Lake Charles, La. a "sister city," an action that will
shred the mounds of red tape that have inhibited efforts across the
country to assist communities ravaged by Katrina's path.

"We have a take-action community where we don't tolerate just
sitting on the sidelines," Healy said. "You saw it on 9-11where we
became the lifeline to lower Manhattan with goods, supplies and
manpower, and we are the center spoke in the wheel of the county's
mutual aid agreements. So we are used to pitching in and doing what must
be done to help those in a crisis," Healy said.

Operation Big Brother begins Saturday, September 10, where residents,
non residents and businesses are urged to contribute items to each of
the city's fire stations, which will be gathered daily and eventually
trucked to Lake Charles at week's end. City officials in communication
with Lake Charles officials have determined that the city's population
has increased nearly 30 percent since Katrina, from 72,000 to
90,000-plus in a little more than a week.

"This has been a massive undertaking and we are stretched pretty thin
with our resources," said Lake Charles mayor Randy Roach today. "The
impact of this thing is unbelievable. We're encountering things and
all kinds of issues, physical health, and mental health issues for
entire families. We are doing everything for these folks."


Lake Charles is approximately 180 miles west of New Orleans and lies on
Interstate-10 between Houston, TX and New Orleans proper.

"This is a wonderful way for citizens of the United States to come
together an reach our to their brothers an sisters. We are one and this
is a great way to share the love," said Lori Marinovich. Lake Charles
Planner and coordinator of Katrina Relief there.

"We just enrolled 600 new grade school to high school aged children
in our schools and we've been providing for all of these families on
our own until the Red Cross got coordinated here today," she said.
Marinovich said that goods are needed across the board and that it
would help tremendously if the items could be separated into "family
packs" or individual packs for ready-distribution.

"The good people of Lake Charles find themselves up against it, with
20,000 news residents, some 8,000 living in churches and the rest
spilling over in shelters, a civic center, a coliseum, casinos and
residents' homes," Healy said. "We know the shelves are bare in
their local stores and they are in desperate need for these people who
showed up with little more than the shirts on their backs."

By Friday, truck drivers from APEX Express will have packed and sealers
a full tractor trailer of the items collected citywide and begin their
trek to Lake Charles.

One resident reached by city officials there in Lake Charles reported,
"Our city normally has a population of 80,000 so we feel like we are
popping at the seams. 30 - 40% of our gas stations are closed due to the
shortage. Our credit card machines don't work, our phones (especially
cell phones) stay "off line" more than in service. Banks, grocery,
discount and drug store lines are long, very long. Armed officers are
stationed at the front door ofmost major stores and buildings. All events at
the Civic Center andColiseum have cancelled for the month of September. We
need help."

A list of the items sought it attached along with addresses of each of
the city's fire station houses.
Goods sought: school uniforms, khaki pants, solid polo shirts (white,
dark blue and green), and shoes; gift cards in small amounts, $25-$50;
canned goods (pre-family packed if possible); cleaning supplies and
buckets; first aid kits; lye soap, anti fungal, and anti biotic bags;
appreciated such as hand cream, lotion, cream cologne, cotton balls, Q
tips, over the counter drugs, hair spray, finger nail files and
clippers.
Collection centers are: Engine Company 2, 160 Grand Street; Engine
Cornpany 5, 355 Newark Avenue; Engine Company 10, 283 Halladay Street;
Engine 6, 465 Marin Blvd.; FnCam, 14-1 Orient Avenue; Engine 13, 152 Linden
Ave; Engine 19, 2 Bergen Ave; Engine 22, 468 Ocean Ave; Engine 7, 715
Summit Ave; Medical Com. 166 Summit Av; Engine11, 152 Lincoln Street; Engine
14, 599 Palisade Ave; Engine 18, 218 Central Ave; Engine 9, 697 Bergen Ave;
and Rescue 1, 582 Communipaw Ave.///