Hopes and prayers with residents of N. Orleans, Gulf Coast

AcemanPR · Post by **AcemanPR** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 11:23 am

I heard there could be as many as 100,000 people that stayed back in their homes. Personally if I lived in New Orleans or southern MS, I would have headed to my grandmother's house in NW Tennessee.

Jayhawker · Post by **Jayhawker** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 4:36 am

Thought I would post here about my wife's aunt. She is a nun in New Orleans. We visited her eight years ago years ago, and my wife had stayed the seminary where she teaches while in town for a convention. She showed us around NO, and to this day it was one of the more surreal moments in my life, watching a nun exhibit road rage. She's a very spirited, great lady.

We were a little worried, as we knew how close to downtown she lives. We got word Monday that she had stayed at the seminary where she teaches. They has ridden the storm out ok, and she was exhausted. Of course, things went to hell (bad choice of words considering...) after that, and no one had heard from her until tonight.

Just thought I would share the email we recieved fromanother of Teresa's aunts. Nothing extrodinary considering the reports that we have all been seeing on the news, but I hope you all might find it interesting.

Hi everyone! I just got off the phone with Liz. She is very tired and worn out BUT alive and in Baton Rouge. She left the seminary with the woman she had been taking care of. The woman was spitting up blood and they felt they had to move her to get her help. She put the woman in a big plastic tub and floated her out to help. Liz was walking in mud, water and who knows what else up to her chest. She eventually came across a doctor with a SUV who helped her get to Baton Rouge.

The woman had a bleeding ulcer and will be okay in the hospital and Liz is staying with some people she knew from when she was in MN. She didn't know how long she would be there. She did say it is much worse down there than any of the news programs are showing.

There were 500 people still at the seminary/school when she left. They hopefully were rescued today. Sister xxx, her roommate, stayed at the seminary with the husband of the woman Liz helped get to the hospital. Now Liz has no idea where Sister xxx is.

No one was expecting things to be this bad so Liz left her home with only family pictures, three sets of clothing and a few other small items. She has know idea what she will be coming back to in her home. She couldn't talk long but will keep in touch. Keep her in your prayers!!

When my wife wakes up this morning, she will be very relieved. This was just good news for us, and I thought I would share. I also thought we could use another thread about this tragedy that wasn't focused on the looters. I'm as sick of seeing them as well, but there is much more going on than just that.

Jackdog · Post by **Jackdog** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 5:38 am

Jayhawker thanks for sharing. It's nice to hear a little good news coming out of that place.

NoJoke · Post by **NoJoke** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:45 am

That's great news Jayhawker.

Hopefully more and more stories of good news and inspiration will start to combat all the negativity.

Joe.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:52 am

Super news, Jay. Thanks for sharing the story. We need some more good news out of that region of the country.

Take care,
PK

Jayhawker · Post by **Jayhawker** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 3:17 pm

Another thought for you guys, and that is donating. I'm sure most of you already have, and will probabluy continue to give money. The Red Cross takes a beating, but they really do a great job overall. Complaints about where the money goes is not really fair.

Any money the Red Cross did not spend on 9/11 or the Tsunami Relief is now being spent on this disaster. They can hit the ground running because they have a vast network and money in hand. It is crazy to think that we should wait to raise money because we want to target the current disaster.

While I am sure the Red Cross has a hefty overhead, that overhead pays for their ability to respond as quickly as they do. Your money to them is really not being wasted.

I understand if you still want to find another way to donate, but please do it. Don't let negative press get in the way of donating something. There is no shortage of opportunities to make a difference. Realize that anything over what is needed now will be there when your communtiy gets hit with something tragic.

I gave $25 through iTunes. I couldn't stomach buying music without giving something. I will continue to give dollars at stores that are raising money as well. Giving small amounts as you shop is a great way to keep the money flowing without trying to squeeze in a large donation. We can all give more than we think.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 3:24 pm

Jayhawker:

Great post.

Actually, the Red Cross is one of the most efficient charities:

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.c ... d/3277.htm

Ninety-one percent of donations go straight to programs, with only 9 percent for overhead, salaries, advertising, etc.

Jay is right: GIVE. Skip the next night out. Skip the next game purchase. Give that dough to the Red Cross or another charity. Put yourself in the shoes of those poor souls in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

I gave last night on redcross.org. It was simple -- took less than five minutes.

Great post, Jay.

Take care,
PK

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 4:30 pm

Also, make sure to check and see if your employer will match donations. My employer matched my donation to the American Red Cross, so I gave a lot more than I originally planned knowing that it would be doubled.

maddoc1979 · Post by **maddoc1979** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 5:41 pm

Bungie is now selling T-shirts with proceeds going to the hurrican victims. Here's a link:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/09/02 ... 32504.html

My aunt, uncle, and cousins live in New Orleans and are currently staying with other family members in Lafeyette. They told me it could be 3-4 months before they have any semblance of normal life again...and they're some of the "lucky" ones with a place to go.

My wife and I are selling our U2 tickets for the Target Center concert on Ebay (face value only, of course) and all proceeds go to the hurricane relief effort. If anyone's interested, look it up here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... %3AIT&rd=1

Everyone, if you can, please donate something, anything. This is truly a disaster on an unimaginable scale.

Doc

Jayhawker · Post by **Jayhawker** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 6:40 pm

http://tinyurl.com/d9eou

Bryan Burwell's column in the StL Post-Dispatch today. I'm going down to the game here in a bit. I hope he gets the response he's looking for. Here's part of it.

Katrina relief fund makes exhibition a meaningful game
By Bryan Burwell
Of the Post-Dispatch
09/02/2005

We've all spent hours in front of television sets or reading the disturbing accounts of America's worst natural disaster in more than a century. We've seen the photographs of flood victims. We've seen the corpses on New Orleans streets. We've seen the countless starving, stranded victims of Katrina's wreckage on rooftops in the small towns and big cities that stretch all along the waterlogged Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Alabama.

Now there is an opportunity for sports fans from St. Louis to reach out and do something to help all those hurricane victims.

Just go to the football game.

The simple act of attending the Rams-Chiefs game will allow you the opportunity to make a donation to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Volunteers from the Greater St. Louis Quarterback Club and the wives of Rams players will be collecting donations at Baer Park (adjacent to the Edward Jones Dome) on Broadway between Cole and Convention Plaza from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. They also will be in front of the entrances to the Edward Jones Dome from 5 p.m. until the 7 p.m. kickoff.

snip

Wouldn't it be something if St. Louis football fans turned out in droves all day and set record numbers for contributions to the Relief Fund?

bayousooner · Post by **bayousooner** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:15 pm

Hey all,

I live in Metairie, one of the suburbs west of New Orleans. We left early Sunday morning and went to my parents in Tyler, Texas.

My wife and I have been looking at local news websites and think we survived any flooding. We just want to know if we had any wind damage and pray we did not have any looting.

I wake up every morning thinking this is just a dream.

We hope to be able to return on Monday or Tuesday to check out our home and retrieve a few things. My daughter is going to go to school in Tyler for at least 3 months and my employer is trying to relocate to Baton Rouge. My wife an I are thankful that we have employers with a salary still coming to us, there are too many people that have just there sole sorce of any income.

If I have rambled or given too much personal info, I apologize.

Rick

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:55 pm

Rick:

We all appreciate the post, man, and offer you, your family and everyone in the Gulf Coast our sincere thoughts and prayers.

Hang in there, and post all you want if it helps you.

Take care,
PK

bayousooner · Post by **bayousooner** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 10:56 am

Thanks PK, I appreciate it.

My fear is of any looting in my neighborhood, we don't know what we will go home to. It's sad to watch the TV and see the looting in city. There are many that are desperate and trying to get food, but too many are the worst of the worst and destorying the city.

If we are able to make our way back home next week, I will post on my return.

Thanks,

Rick