Needed: an EKG machine, home blood pressure monitors, back packs and school supplies.
We had a busy June. Shipped out another load of diabetic kits and made a trip down to MS. See below for more details on the trip.
Shipped: 15 kits to Common Ground 10 kits to Jefferson Community Health Clinic 1 pallet of kits to NOLA-- thanks to Xavier University College of Pharmacy. These kits are being shared with other NOLA clinics. 1 pallet of kits to the Coastal Family Health Clinics and shared with other clinics on MS coast.
We helped sponsor a truckload of pet food into Hancock County. Thanks to Free Haul NPC in Arizona for lining up the donation and transport. Yahoo. The appreciation down there was overwhelming! I don't think any donation effects more people than helping them feed their precious animals that survived the storm. Special thanks to Suzie Pollard with the Hancock Co. Humane Society who distributes the food and helped me with accommodations while I was in Waveland. If anyone is interested in getting a beautiful cat or kitten (some were dumped at her doorstep while we were down there). All the animals at Suzie's shelter are well taken care of and have all their shots and have been neutered. They just need a home.
Suzie Pollard with the Hancock Human Society
Delivered: 10 kits to W. Hancock Fire Rescue 15 kits to Bethel Lutheran misc. Medical supplies Approx. 100 first aid kits
The trip to MS over the July 4th weekend went well. Thanks to Gary McGinnis who came down from MD as a volunteer fireman and did ALL the driving. :-) Six pallets of medical supplies were waiting for us to sort and deliver to lots of clinics on the coast. Thanks to Bob, Jeff, Jack and Dennis from the Nicaragua Medical Alliance in Chicago! We just had time to get everything sorted and delivered-- thanks to Gary and Suzanne Stahl from Hands On Gulf Coast (aka the Energizer Bunny) and Richard Peasley for doing all the driving on the run to NOLA.
The ortho supplies we originally were going to sort and deliver got delayed, but are now being shipped to Birmingham where we can sort and ship from here. Thanks again to Heart to Heart for that donation. Close to 100 first aid kits were distributed to the volunteer camps in MS-- thanks to Dr Carl for that and for hauling stuff around for us. And thanks to Glynn and Bunny in Bham for putting the kits together.
The weather was humid and very HOT, emphasizing the need for water and Gatoraid. We left a trunk full of those supplies at Katrina Relief (Kathleen Johnson's group which has grown and is going strong). Thanks to Cousin's Properties for their collection efforts!! They are still hanging in there with us.
While delivering supplies in Picayune I got to have lunch with Dixie from Manna Ministries. They are still doing food pantry for 3,000 (as opposed to 300 pre storm) and have about 30 homeless families as oppose to none before the storm. Went to Avondale, LA and Algiers, Biloxi and D'Iberville. Made some new contacts with Pearl River Fire Dept. and got a phone no. for another St. Vincient De Paul pharmacy.
Laura and Donice finally meet for the first time.
We stopped by Angie, LA on the way down. We have been working with Donice with the Angie Free Clinic there and were given a very warm welcome. We met with several of the pastors from various churches and with a team of counselors from Volunteers of America. This community is really struggling to recover from Katrina with very little outside help. It is another very poor community and many FEMA applications were turned down because the recipients signed their applications with an "X". The VOA team told us about the rising number of suicides and depression.
This community is planning on a back-to-school festival on July 21st. Donice reports that collection of backpacks and supplies is not going well. I'm going to suggest that the kids register to get supplies, so if you would like to participate in this campaign please contact me. 205-251-0111 or capbham@aol.com
Back home in Bham, our wonderful volunteers from Americorps, Betty and Naomi and Christina have been working at the United Way warehouse going through old FEMA lunch boxes and pulling out items that are still good. We also have a load of baby formula to re-pack, so if your looking to volunteer some time in Bham give us a call. 251-0111.
As always, thank you for your support! Laura
PS Please pass the link to this web site on to your friends who may be interested.
People are still living in damaged, moldy housing.
