By Andrew Coen
Many local and national charitable agencies have offered assistance, including the American Red Cross, the United Way, the Salvation Army, America's Second Harvest, Catholic Charities USA, the United Jewish Appeal, Lutheran Disaster Response, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and the United Methodist Committee on Relief. The volunteer agencies provide a wide variety of services in the wake of disasters, including cleanup, child-care, housing repair and crisis counseling, as well as providing shelter and food.
On Tuesday Sept. 6 Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi announced a plan to provide more than 100 evacuees with temporary housing and also encouraged residents to donate to the relief effort.
The American Red Cross has launched the largest relief effort in its history, and its Nassau County chapter is accepting financial donations. For more information on how to donate, call (516) 747-3500 or log onto www.NassauRedCross.org. Salvation Army volunteers are currently in the ravaged areas, aiding residents and emergency workers in what is expected to be a multi-million-dollar relief effort. To make a donation to the Salvation Army, call (888) 234-8888 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
FEMA officials have said that cash donations to these organizations are the most effective way to help at this point. "[Cash donations] allow volunteer agencies to issue cash vouchers to victims so they can meet their needs," said Michael D. Brown, under secretary of homeland security for emergency preparedness and response. "Cash donations also allow agencies to avoid the labor-intensive need to store, sort, pack and distribute donated goods."
Brown also emphasized that volunteers should not report directly to the affected areas unless directed by one of the volunteer agencies. "We're grateful for the outpouring of support already, but it's important that volunteer response is coordinated by the professionals who can direct volunteers with the appropriate skills to the hardest-hit areas where they are needed most," said Brown. "Self-dispatched volunteers and especially sightseers can put themselves and others in harm's way and hamper rescue efforts."
For further information on how to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina, visit the Web site for the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) at www.nvoad.org.
For the next four weeks, Herald Community Newspapers will be joining forces with Island Harvest - in conjunction with America's Second Harvest - to assist those in recovery from the effects of the hurricane Katrina. No donation is too small. All checks or money orders should be made out to Island Harvest and mailed to: Herald Hurricane Help, 910 Orlando Ave., West Hempstead, N.Y. 11552. All donations are tax deductible, and 100 percent of all funds collected will be used to help those effected by Hurricane Katrina. Please do not hesitate to call us with questions or comments at (516) 569-4000 ext. 1312 or email us at hurricanehelp@liherald.com.
Temple Israel of Lawrence is partnering with the Calvary Baptist Church in Queens in accepting donations for the relief effort, and the reform synagogue held a prayer ceremony for the victims during Shabbat services last Friday. "This tragedy affects all peoples of all faiths and all communities," said Rabbi Rosenbaum, spiritual leader of Temple Israel.
Rosenbaum said that those interested assisting in the relief effort can send donations to the synagogue at 140 Central Ave., Lawrence, NY 11559.
Joel Kaplan of Woodmere, president of the Jewish organization B'nai B'rith International, is also lending a helping hand by activating the group's disaster relief fund, which will collect funds that will be used to provide assistance to the victims of the storm. "Hurricane Katrina has been described as being of historic proportions, and a natural disaster of this magnitude will certainly create huge need," said Kaplan. "B'nai B'rith's disaster relief fund will help us provide assistance as we have done in the case of natural and man-made disasters for nearly 140 years."
Eon Bailey, president of Jamaicans and Caribbeans for Action at the Five Towns Community Center in North Lawrence, said the group is planning a fund-raiser, and is in the initial stages of determining victims' most pressing needs. "We are watching what FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency], the Salvation Army and Red Cross are doing and will see where the gap is," said Bailey.
Bailey said his organization has been in contact with an agency in the New Orleans area that has mentioned a need for water, bedding and Pampers, which they plan to send with help from other charitable groups in the state. "We're starting to get the word out," said Bailey.
He urges anyone interested in helping in the relief effort to call (516) 239-6244 ext. 257 for further information.
Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
