It is a given that what most relief agencies want and need right now is money. Anyone who has ever worked in relief can tell you stories about the oddly inappropriate material donations they have received, and what a hassle dealing with stuff, rather than money can be. So, yes, that is the first priority, particularly since needs change so fast, people are moving all over the place, and cash can be built up for the very tough, long-term road ahead.
You guys don’t need me to direct you to charities, but in case you want a handy list: The FEMA-approved list, and here’s the Katrina Help Wiki. Michelle Malkin has a post on what’s happening in Texas as well as many others highlighting the creative ways people are trying to help.
Smaller charities that might be of particular interest to our Catholic readers are:
The Catholic Extension Society, which, for years, has been one of my favorite charities, since I once lived in a parish that was a beneficiary of the Society’s help. In case you don’t know, CES is dedicated to help small, struggling Catholic parishes, particularly in rural areas and areas where Catholics are a minority.
Food For The Poor, the foremost international relief agency working in the Caribbean and Central America today, has over 50 tractor-trailer loads of emergency relief supplies enroute to the hardest hit areas of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, and plans to send an additional 150 containers. The containers consist of food, bottled water, juices, cleaning supplies, blankets, hygiene kits, clothing and building supplies. The supplies are being sent initially to 12 disaster distribution locations set up by Food For The Poor together with some of our church partners, to assist the dioceses and churches in the affected areas.
In addition, those who live in south Florida will want to note, in the above link, that Food For the Poor is accepting material donations to be part of emergency kits – see the link for details.
Now, although money is best, there are organizations taking material donations, and we have posted about some of them below. We’ve focused on St. Vincent de Paul societies in Houston and Baton Rouge, groups that are working very hard and fast to deal with an intense, immediate need. I really want to highlight the Baton Rouge situation since that city is basically doubling in size with evacuees, and the situation is, as I said, intense. The address below is of the warehouse for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Baton Rouge:
1010 Nicholson Dr. Baton Rouge, LA 70802.
The St. Vincent de Paul Society in Houston is specifically asking for in-kind donations. I am sure they are hoping for most of these to come from people in the area, but ordering a big jumbo box of diapers via Wal-Mart and having it sent there, even if you live in Boise, will certainly be appreciated.
Also in Baton Rouge: Via a Catholic Exchange article in which the author interviewed staff of LSU’s Catholic Center:
And I asked him if it would be OK for people to send donations directly to the Catholic Center there at LSU, so that he and Rebecca and the staff there who are interacting directly with the refugees can be in a better position to help them, and so that we can know we are with them as well.
According to Fr. Than and Rebecca the greatest needs are for gift cards from Wal-Mart or Target or Albertsons, or for checks, which can be made out to: Christ the King Catholic Student Center.
All donations may be mailed to:
Christ the King Catholic Student Center
POB 25131
Baton Rouge, LA 70894-5131.The theological term "subsidiarity," referring to the value of working at the local level whenever feasible, has become more and more common in recent years, and sometimes people debate about exactly what it means.
I believe this is what it means. I believe subsidiarity is when Fr. Than and Rebecca and the students from LSU’s Catholic Center reach out in love to their neighbors who are lost and wounded, and we then we reach out in love to our fellow Christians at the Catholic Center, sustaining them with our prayers and our gifts, so that they may continue bearing witness where they are that Christ is alive, and His Church is one.
The website for the LSU Catholic Center is www.ctk-lsu.org.
A couple more notes:
Here’s Move On’s "Hurricane Housing" Clearinghouse
Re/ our discussion below of church facilities and resettlement or temporary housing. I think we need to remember that when it comes to traditionally-understood refugee resettlement, the Catholic Church is one, if not the leading private institution in that regard in this country. I’m fairly certain that those offices will be gearing up in this situation. For example, the Dallas Diocese is on point:
Bishop Charles Grahmann is asking parishes to organize response teams and coordinate with Catholic Charities to locate and help those within their churches who have taken in storm victims.
The teams hope to find housing for families for at least six months and provide rent and utility payments if necessary. People also are being asked to assist families in finding jobs and schools.
Sister Mary Anne Owens, executive director of Catholic Charities in Dallas, said the hurricane provides an opportunity for local residents to demonstrate their faith through charity in ways more immediate than that afforded by disasters in faraway lands.
"This is responding to a great need, face to face," Sister Owens said. "We are telling parishes that they are being deputized as Catholic Charities at the local level."
Holy Family Retreat Center in Beaumont has become a haven for 35 people, three dogs and a cat from New Orleans. The refugees range in age from 21 months to the 80s; they do not know what they will find, if anything, when they are finally able to return to their homes.
Adlai Depano, staying at the center with his wife and three children, said the uncertainty of what life will be like when he returns to New Orleans is unsettling, but just "being able to stay at the retreat center, with structure to the day, daily Mass and evening prayer helps," he told the East Texas Catholic, Beaumont diocesan newspaper.
Via the Curt Jester, a story about a Vietnamese convent in Houston that’s taken in a slew of refugees
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