Americans Open Wallets, Homes to Refugees
By ANGIE WAGNER
Associated Press Writer
September 3, 2005, 4:31 PM EDT
For Steve Smith, it was the radio story about a family staying at Reunion Arena in Dallas with a 1-month-old infant. A father himself, he couldn't imagine living in an arena with a newborn.
Smith, 34, fired off an e-mail to friends and co-workers and raised almost $4,000 in two days to put up families in a Dallas hotel. He also got his company to donate food for a month and negotiated a cheaper hotel rate.
I never step out on a limb like this," said Smith, a manager for a manufacturer of video conferencing systems. "But there's something about this that has really turned me into this philanthropist."
Across the country, Americans of all races and income levels are opening their wallets, their homes and their hearts to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. They are outraged over the atrocious living conditions flashing across their TV screens. They ache for the wounded, the weak, the hungry babies and the shell-shocked kids. Most of all, they want to help.
Children have set up lemonade stands, families planned to open their homes and volunteers headed to the disaster zone, eager to bring back the weary. Bottled water was flying off the shelves, snatched up by people willing to send it to Katrina's victims. Workers pooled donations and got their companies to match them. Cities and towns readied community centers, schools, dorms and abandoned strip malls to host refugees.
"You see those people, they hurt," said Donna Smith of Lindenwold, N.J. "You can't sleep, you can't eat because you feel guilty. Here you are in the air conditioning."
Smith, 46, and her two sons took an American Red Cross volunteer training class Friday and were preparing to head south to help.
Hundreds of people have already contacted the Web site of the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper to offer their homes to the displaced.
"I feel guilty because I can't go down there and do anything else," said Nick Barnes of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, who is offering his three-bedroom house on the Internet.
Michigan Rep. Mike Murphy, a minister who heads the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus, planned a caravan to Baton Rouge, La., to bring back up to 125 people to stay in a public school no longer in use.
The red kettles of the Salvation Army came out early this year in Minnesota, collecting money for food, water and supplies for hurricane victims. Those set up at the Minnesota State Fair were especially productive.
"Every single person coming out of the stands put money in there," said Salvation Army spokeswoman Annette Bauer.
The small town of Union, S.C., wasn't waiting for refugees to come to them. Four people headed to Atlanta on Friday to pick up five homeless families. They will be given a place to live, groceries and utilities for at least two months, said organizer Vicki Morgan.
"We want these families to be able to sit down at a meal with Momma cooking at the stove and become a family again," she said.
In Buffalo, N.Y., those who knew what it was like to be displaced reached out, even amid their own struggles. Refugees from Myanmar, Nigeria and other troubled countries planned an international bake sale for the hurricane victims.
Sarah Lund-Goldstein of Ravenna, Ohio, said her family put off their holiday plans and instead organized a toy collection for Gulf Coast children.
"I sat on the living room floor and cut my son's Matchbox cars in half. I said, 'You're going to keep these, the rest can go,'" she said, choking back tears.
Colleges and universities have offered to waive tuition for students from schools closed by the hurricane. Radio and television stations hosted benefit broadcasts. The tourist town of Branson, Mo., was trying to come up with 50 to 100 jobs to offer to refugees. Ham radio operators volunteered to relay messages for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other aid providers.
No donation was too small or too big. While the Central Arkansas Library System decided to send its overdue book fines to the hurricane relief, professional athletes and Hollywood celebrities pledged donations that ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
For some, the call to help came out of anger that not enough is being done. Pastors of black churches and other leaders in Nashville, Tenn., were disturbed that President Bush moved too slowly and FEMA looked too disorganized.
"An enormous failure of the system has clearly been exposed, but this system failure is associated with the long-term failure of this country to deal responsibly and effectively with the structural problems of poverty in America," Michael Grant of the NAACP said in Nashville.
A tractor trailer of emergency supplies was on its way to Louisiana and the pastors were donating part of their salaries to pay colleagues in the storm areas.
Dorothy Washlick was another new Red Cross volunteer, moved to help after seeing a photo of an exhausted young woman sprawled with several children in a Gulf Coast shelter.
"Your hearts go out to these people when you see the despair on their faces," said Washlick, of Mount Laurel, N.J. "People like me assume they're being taken care of once they get to a shelter, but they're not. The Red Cross is absolutely overwhelmed."
Link Here
Associated Press Writer
September 3, 2005, 4:31 PM EDT
For Steve Smith, it was the radio story about a family staying at Reunion Arena in Dallas with a 1-month-old infant. A father himself, he couldn't imagine living in an arena with a newborn.
Smith, 34, fired off an e-mail to friends and co-workers and raised almost $4,000 in two days to put up families in a Dallas hotel. He also got his company to donate food for a month and negotiated a cheaper hotel rate.
I never step out on a limb like this," said Smith, a manager for a manufacturer of video conferencing systems. "But there's something about this that has really turned me into this philanthropist."
Across the country, Americans of all races and income levels are opening their wallets, their homes and their hearts to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. They are outraged over the atrocious living conditions flashing across their TV screens. They ache for the wounded, the weak, the hungry babies and the shell-shocked kids. Most of all, they want to help.
Children have set up lemonade stands, families planned to open their homes and volunteers headed to the disaster zone, eager to bring back the weary. Bottled water was flying off the shelves, snatched up by people willing to send it to Katrina's victims. Workers pooled donations and got their companies to match them. Cities and towns readied community centers, schools, dorms and abandoned strip malls to host refugees.
"You see those people, they hurt," said Donna Smith of Lindenwold, N.J. "You can't sleep, you can't eat because you feel guilty. Here you are in the air conditioning."
Smith, 46, and her two sons took an American Red Cross volunteer training class Friday and were preparing to head south to help.
Hundreds of people have already contacted the Web site of the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper to offer their homes to the displaced.
"I feel guilty because I can't go down there and do anything else," said Nick Barnes of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, who is offering his three-bedroom house on the Internet.
Michigan Rep. Mike Murphy, a minister who heads the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus, planned a caravan to Baton Rouge, La., to bring back up to 125 people to stay in a public school no longer in use.
The red kettles of the Salvation Army came out early this year in Minnesota, collecting money for food, water and supplies for hurricane victims. Those set up at the Minnesota State Fair were especially productive.
"Every single person coming out of the stands put money in there," said Salvation Army spokeswoman Annette Bauer.
The small town of Union, S.C., wasn't waiting for refugees to come to them. Four people headed to Atlanta on Friday to pick up five homeless families. They will be given a place to live, groceries and utilities for at least two months, said organizer Vicki Morgan.
"We want these families to be able to sit down at a meal with Momma cooking at the stove and become a family again," she said.
In Buffalo, N.Y., those who knew what it was like to be displaced reached out, even amid their own struggles. Refugees from Myanmar, Nigeria and other troubled countries planned an international bake sale for the hurricane victims.
Sarah Lund-Goldstein of Ravenna, Ohio, said her family put off their holiday plans and instead organized a toy collection for Gulf Coast children.
"I sat on the living room floor and cut my son's Matchbox cars in half. I said, 'You're going to keep these, the rest can go,'" she said, choking back tears.
Colleges and universities have offered to waive tuition for students from schools closed by the hurricane. Radio and television stations hosted benefit broadcasts. The tourist town of Branson, Mo., was trying to come up with 50 to 100 jobs to offer to refugees. Ham radio operators volunteered to relay messages for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other aid providers.
No donation was too small or too big. While the Central Arkansas Library System decided to send its overdue book fines to the hurricane relief, professional athletes and Hollywood celebrities pledged donations that ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
For some, the call to help came out of anger that not enough is being done. Pastors of black churches and other leaders in Nashville, Tenn., were disturbed that President Bush moved too slowly and FEMA looked too disorganized.
"An enormous failure of the system has clearly been exposed, but this system failure is associated with the long-term failure of this country to deal responsibly and effectively with the structural problems of poverty in America," Michael Grant of the NAACP said in Nashville.
A tractor trailer of emergency supplies was on its way to Louisiana and the pastors were donating part of their salaries to pay colleagues in the storm areas.
Dorothy Washlick was another new Red Cross volunteer, moved to help after seeing a photo of an exhausted young woman sprawled with several children in a Gulf Coast shelter.
"Your hearts go out to these people when you see the despair on their faces," said Washlick, of Mount Laurel, N.J. "People like me assume they're being taken care of once they get to a shelter, but they're not. The Red Cross is absolutely overwhelmed."
Link Here
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