Index

Commentary:
Why We Need To Rebuild

Updates From Leslie
January and February ('06)
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
1/29 December
1/29 January '07
February '07

Ways To Help
Supporting Gulf Fishermen
Starting To Help From Home
2/8 Collect Boxtops For Education
Collect Labels For Education
Children's Program - Art Felt Creations

Letters To Write
Helping Pets
Animal Crisis - Supply and Volunteer Request
Animal Shelter Assistance Request

Holiday Time Request Letters
To Churches
To Companies, Universities, Hospitals, etc.
Lagniappe Day (Boxing Day)

Police Departments
Letter to Police Departments
Letter For Police PBA's

Requesting Volunteers
2/23 Getting Gardeners Involved
Letter Requesting Medical Volunteers
Letter To Get School Teachers To Volunteer Over Summer
Letter For Medical Personnel To Assist
Letter To Culinary Colleges For Staff and Students To Assist
Letter To Local Colleges To Volunteer

Advocating
The Need For Heat
Letter To Assist Gulf Fisherman
Price Gouging Letter To States' Attorneys General
Letter To The Editor Suggesting Ways to Help

Financing The Volunteers
2/9 Getting Transportation for Materials
Major Airline Letter For Discounts To Volunteers
Campmor Letter For Discounts To Volunteers (may be sent to other camping stores)
Tax Write-Off Request To State And Federal Officials

Miscellaneous
2/16 Utilizing NonViolent Offenders For Recovery
1/29 Educate Your Volunteers on Infectious Diseases
Request For Rummage Sale Leftovers For MS
Letter To Local Habitat Restore

Utilizing First Time NonViolent Offenders

To Whom It May Concern:

Recently, it came to my attention that the US experiences 30-60 natural disasters per year. Understandably, none are the magnitude of the 2005 hurricane season, but we can learn from that season to better respond to the rest.

During my volunteer efforts with the Gulf Coast, I have been awed by the generosity of all who volunteer to rebuild the region. And yet, much needs doing a full 18 months after the storms and other disasters have occurred throughout the nation in that time frame.

This leaves me pondering how to recruit more people for all rebuilding that have yet to occur.

I would like to propose using state-housed offenders.

A program could be established similar to the “shock” or “basic training” programs within many states’ corrections systems for those who are first time, non-violent offenders wishing to be given a second chance at life through what could be a great vocational tool. It can be a 6-8 week program, working with volunteer crews experienced in whatever stage of the relief/recovery effort is occurring at that time, while under close supervision, of course.

These offenders would gain the same experiences of discipline, physical exertion, and self-worth, while also building life skills, instilling a civic connection probably never before felt and help build compassion for others.

By socializing the offenders, citizens and volunteers alike would help break the stigma that follows any person convicted of a crime, showing compassion comes from all areas of our society.
Please consider this idea. It is worthy of pursuit and study, for the number of good things that could be accomplished through a program like this is almost limitless.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely

2 Men and A Truck

Dear Ms. Sheets:

I read with great interest that your company holds community service in high regard and that your company played a vital role at the beginning of the Gulf Coast recovery effort. Thank you!

I hope you will accept the following proposal: To be in the forefront of energy conservation within the transport industry and assist in the development of a relief material delivery system.

Sponsor a medium or large truck to convert from diesel to straight vegetable oil (SVO). Use this truck to haul materials collected for the recovery effort from any northern US region to existing warehouses closer to or within the Gulf region.

The conversion can be done to either a new or used truck, with mileage and maintenance remaining the same, emissions decreasing and fuel costs becoming virtually nil. Using an SVO-converted truck allows you to test the idea of alternative fuels for your franchises, increasing your “green” presence within the transport industry and decreasing possible costs for assisting in the recovery process. Assistance with the conversion might occur through a company advocating bio-fuels called Grease Car (www.greasecar.com).

Coordination would be exclusively with Citizen Action Team (www.reliefdatabase.org). CAT is an all-volunteer agency that was specifically established for the 2005 hurricane season relief effort, but is expanding to include all natural disasters and has been attempting to establish a distribution chain for both current and future needs.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns regarding this proposal.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

And their address:
TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®/ INTERNATIONAL, Inc.
3400 Belle Chase Way
Lansing, MI 48911
http://www.twomenandatruck.com/

The people to address it to...
Mary Ellen Sheets, Founder and Chair
Melanie Bergeron, Chief Executive Officer
Brig Sorber, President
Jon Sorber, Senior Vice President, Franchisee of both Grand Rapids locations and the Lansing location

Garden and Greenspace Letter

To whom it may concern,

Tens of thousands of people are still living in FEMA trailers since Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast. They have no homes to return to, their original jobs washed away with the hurricanes, and virtually no plant life left to hide the scars these storms inflicted on their region.

And while original soil samples were toxic beyond compare, these areas are now testing within acceptable limits for most native and vegetable plant life.
What the entire region needs is volunteer gardeners to coordinate with local ones removing dead plants, rescuing ailing ones, establishing community gardens and replanting wild spaces with native species to ward off the current influx of invasive species.

These people need ways to augment their meager food sources. This can be accomplished with community gardens located in key areas throughout all of the communities.

They need to see their old estate gardens restored to even just a semblance of their former beauty.

They need to see the wild spaces as they once were, loaded with familiar flora and fauna.

They need to see the vacant home plots covered with something other than weeds and trash.

But they can't do this alone. They need folks who know how to make all of these things happen. They need you.

Please contact:
The MS Master Gardeners Association (msmastergardener.org/)
The LS Master Gardeners Association (www.lsuagcenter.com/mastergardener/)
The AL Master Gardeners Association (www.alabamamg.org/)
For more information on helping them rebuild their coastlines, greenspaces and gardens.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Send this letter to your state's Master Gardener Association. A list of the states' orgs are here:
http://www.google.com/Top/Home/Gardening/Organizations/Master_Gardeners/United_States/
Also consider sending it to gardening magazines such as Organic Gardening, Better Homes and Gardens, Garden Gate, People Places and Plants, Fine Gardening, Horticulture, Garden Design, Country Gardens, etc.
And finally, consider sending it to your local garden clubs, horticulture societies, cooperative extensions.

2/23 - sent to me by a great lady in MS:
When you send the le-mail requesting help with restoring the green space destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, please direct any interested groups and individuals to The Mississippi Renaissance Garden web site at: www.msrengarden.org
We desperately need master gardeners, landscape architects, construction firms, corporations, funds, materials, plants and labor ors to help us restore our landscape in Mississippi. The most devastated counties are Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties. They can also call me at (228) 388-2622 or e-mail me at msbkt@aol.com. The Mississippi Renaissance Garden Foundation has been formed to help the three counties recover their green space. Many plans have been made to do this, but we need the above resources.
Thank you for your assistance in our time of need. You are doing a wonderful job.
Regards,
Martha S. Boyce,
Founder and Executive Director
The Mississippi Renaissance Garden Foundation, Inc

Advocate For Heat

1/29 Letter For Editor on Lack of Heat in Trailers
This is in response to the article at:
http://katrinanetworking.blogspot.com/2007/01/going-without-heat.html
To Whom It May Concern:
This winter has been even more difficult than last winter for Katrina survivors.
They are still living in FEMA trailers; many retired or with small children and unable to locate any housing, much less affordable housing.
Most have jobs, but not at their pre-Katrina pay, and can’t afford the Liquid Propane (LP) to heat their tiny trailers, cook on their stoves, or heat water for showers.
In MS, LP is going for $2/gallon with an average BBQ style tank costing at least $20 per fill, lasting them 2-3 days. Who can afford $10/day to heat 200 square feet? How can they manage with so few resources or options and live in trailers that leak water and air like sieves?
FEMA knows of the problem, but refuses to acknowledge it, forcing survivors to live in worsening conditions of cold, moldy and damp hovels. We treat prisoners better than these fellow citizens.
Local media are just becoming aware of this problem. Why did it take so long? Where is the outrage? Where is the good “corporate citizenship” of the fuel companies?
No wonder the survivors feel forgotten.
Help them. Write letters to your government representatives. Write to the fuel companies. Force change.
Sincerely,

Disease On The Rise

1/15 For All Volunteer Agencies
This letter is intended to alarm you. MS Public Health Department released statistics on TB and Syphilis rates for 2006. The numbers are grim. While reading the following, please be mindful of 2 facts: These are only diagnosed cases and not estimates for the entire population; That consistent health care is still minimal, lowering the number of cases that would otherwise be diagnosed.

TB has increased 12% (http://katrinanetworking.blogspot.com/2007/01/tb-on-rise.html). The factors leading to this increase are vast, from a reduction in healthcare access to unventilated small living spaces. And while TB is difficult to contract, it isn’t rare – proven by the epidemics in our nation’s history. Encourage your volunteers to be tested for TB once or twice per year after working in the Gulf Region.

Please review the FAQS at the CDC’s website and give the information to your volunteers to read as well. http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/tb/faqs/qa.htm

Even more frightening is the emergence of Syphilis. It has increased 75 % (http://katrinanetworking.blogspot.com/2007/01/syphilis-on-rise.html). With it being known as The Great Imitator, it is easy to not visit the doctor for a proper diagnosis, creating an ever-widening infection pool. Coupled with the un-recovered health care system, Syphilis will spread that much more readily.

Using protection such as condoms helps, but is not fail safe. Studies for pregnancy show condoms 4%-10% ineffective (brand, storage and usage factors), with leakage being the main source of failure. Both Syphilis and HIV are up to 100 times smaller than sperm, making failure rate of condoms far higher for viral STDs. Syphilis makes a person 2-5 times more likely to become HIV infected (due to risky behavior and a reduction in the body’s defenses) as well as other STDs. For this reason, it is vital that people be tested if they become sexually active while visiting the Gulf Coast. http://www.cdc.gov/std/Syphilis/STDFact-Syphilis.htm

Spring Break and Mardi Gras are rapidly approaching. TB and STD transmission will be heightened dramatically due to environment and actions.

Please use common sense. Hope they practice abstinence, but educate them and give them access to protection as insurance policies. Educate your volunteers! Send information on all STDs and TB for them to read prior to traveling to the coast and leave information for them at the base camp. Urge abstinence. Require Hepatitis B vaccination and strongly urge HPV vaccination. Urge them to be tested for all STDs and TB when they return home from the coast. Discretely supply protection.

To order a copy of the Can We Talk? Kit and to learn more about program and the steps for implementing it in your community, visit the Can We Talk? Web site (http://www.canwetalk.org/) or contact the NEA Health Information Network at 1201 16th St. NW, Suite 521,Washington, DC 20036; (202) 822-7570.
· Talking with Kids about Tough Issues. This booklet was prepared by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (http://www.kff.org/) and Children Now (http://www.childrennow.org/). For information, call 1-916-441-2444.
· Finding Our Voices: Talking with our Kids about Sexuality and AIDS. This booklet is available from Mothers' Voices (http://www.mvoices.org/), 212-730-2777.
· Askable Parent — a booklet developed by the American Social Health Association (http://www.ashastd.org/), 919-361-8419.

Community Garden Assistance

1/8 Letter for Gardeners, Gardening Volunteers
As all good gardeners know, the new growing season is only weeks away. Seeds need starting; plans made anew for vegetable gardens; tools repaired and prepared.
As all Gulf Coast volunteers know, having a place to relax is vital. They also know survivors and volunteer camps alike need fresh vegetables regularly which are expensive and can be difficult to find.
How do these things tie together? They do in two ways: The Plant A Row Program and Community Garden Programs.
Plant A Row is a national movement to have home growers intentionally plant more than they need of any or all of their vegetable gardens. They then donate the produce to soup kitchens and food pantries, where storing perishables is difficult.
For more information: http://www.gardenwriters.org/par/
Community Gardens are created on private or public land for public use to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers. This can be a temporary or permanent agreement for the land; with rent either donated by the owner or for no more than $25/plot.
For more information: http://www.communitygarden.org/
Both programs need exploring and implementation throughout the Gulf Region. Are you a volunteer who gardens at home? Start the Plant A Row program at your home and neighborhood to take the produce with you on your trips down.
Are you a gardener without soil to play in at home? Help establish community gardens within the community you are helping in the Gulf.
Either way, your skills as a gardener are needed to help the survivors in one more way. And once established, these programs will last and grow, just like the plants from Spring to Autumn.
Please talk to your group and start at least one of the programs to augment your current mission.
Sincerely,

Heat Needed Letter

Just wanted to let you see the letter I wrote to Kathleen Koch of CNN and to the ARC regarding what I am seeing as a very real health crisis in the form of No Heat. Please use it to contact anyone you think might read and take note!
To whom it may concern,
There is a very real crisis occurring within the '05 hurricane season survivors. Increasing numbers are going without a combination of heat, hot water and electricity due to continued financial set-backs and FEMA discontinuing assistance for no discernible reason and with no follow-up after repeated attempts by the people for answers or appeal process. Most of these people are elderly or with small children. An entire trailer park in Pass Christian, MS, without propane due to lack of financial support and high prices.
But the need is throughout the country - NE, NC, VA, MS, AL, LA, VA, etc. It isn't just along the Gulf Coast.
Please investigate this and use your resources to help change the situation, whether by giving vouchers, or helping the media report this dire situation in hopes of gaining support from the heating industry.
LIHEAP, in most cases, has been drained, TANF gives a pittance for any assistance, and local charities just can't fill in the ever increasing needs.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Leslie Holly
www.KatrinaNetworking.blogspot.com

National Quilting Day Letter

1/1 - Letter for Quilting Guilds, Quilting Magazines for 3/24/07 - National Quilting Day

To Whom It May Concern,

Thousands of children have remained victims of the 2005 hurricane season. These children have lost everything that was of comfort to them.

Hancock County, MS still has roughly 32,000 FEMA trailers housing over 85,000 people, including hundreds of foster families and families with infants, toddlers and young children that are trying to create a loving environment. These FEMA trailers have fewer than 240 square feet for up to 4 people. Multiply this county by the same number of counties that make up 12 of the original 13 states.

National Quilt Day is March 24, 2007. Please plan an event for this date that will help the children in all of these areas. Invite the public and all local quilt or sewing guilds to participate in this event. It will expose more people to the joys of quilting and show the families of the Gulf Coast they and their children are not forgotten.

For more information on delivering the finished quilts, you can contact The Salvation Army, The Boys and Girls Club, or quilt guilds throughout the Gulf Coast.

Sincerely,

Places to mail the letter to:
National Quilting Association
PO Box 12190, Columbus, OH 43212-0190

Link to state associations:
http://www.nqaquilts.org/statechapters.asp

International Quilting Association
7660 Woodway, Suite 550
Houston, TX 77063

Search for Quilting Magazines
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=quilting+magazines

Holiday Request Letter to Industry

Holiday Help Letter to Send to Businesses, Universities, Hospitals, etc...

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing on behalf of dozens of families that have been trying to recover from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. These families are still spread throughout the country, unable to bring a sense of emotional normalcy or financial stability to their lives.

Something as simple as missing a day of work, or needing a new tire is wreaking catastrophic havoc on these families; paying rent becomes impossible, having to choose between electricity and food, having to choose between needed shoes for the children or that needed tire.

If your company encourages departmental philanthropy, suggest they choose a family from the Gulf Coast. The needs vary from simple toys for Christmas to total financial crisis management.

Regardless of their situation and of your giving, your greatest gift to them will be hope. Your boxes and envelopes are filled with more hope than any number of items packed within.

There are several options you can choose from to assist these families:
Work with an organization that has case managers for the families. These include CityTeam Ministries (http://www.cityteam.org/), HANDS (http://www.hands.ms/) or The Giving Circle (http://www.thegivingcircle.org/).
Work with a more loosely knit group of volunteers representing the families. These include Katrina’s Angels (http://www.katrinasangels.org/), Impact Ministries (www.citiimpact.org/html/events.asp), or Adopt My Room (www.adoptmyroom.org/).
Work with families directly through such sites as Real People Relief (http://www.realpeoplerelief.blogspot.com/), Adopt A Family (www.adopt-a-katrina-family.com/) or Hope Haven Children’s Shelter (http://www.hopehavenshelter.org/)

No matter what method you choose, I can assure you the family will give far more to you than anything you give them.

Sincerely,

Church Letter of Request

To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing on behalf of dozens of families that have been trying to recover from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. These families are still spread throughout the country, unable to bring a sense of emotional normalcy or financial stability to their lives.
Something as simple as missing a day of work, or needing a new tire is wreaking catastrophic havoc on these families; paying rent becomes impossible, having to choose between electricity and food, having to choose between needed shoes for the children or that needed tire.
If your church participates in Christmas philanthropy, please consider choosing a family from the Gulf Coast. The needs vary from simple toys for Christmas to total financial crisis management.
Regardless of their situation and of your giving, your greatest gift to them will the gift of hope. Your boxes and envelopes are filled with more hope than any number of items packed within.
There are several options you can choose from to assist these families:
Work with an organization that has case managers for the families. These include CityTeam Ministries (http://www.cityteam.org/), HANDS (http://www.hands.ms/) or The Giving Circle (http://www.thegivingcircle.org/).
Work with a more loosely knit group of volunteers representing the families.These include Katrina’s Angels (http://www.katrinasangels.org/), Impact Ministries (www.citiimpact.org/html/events.asp), or Adopt My Room (www.adoptmyroom.org/).
Work with families directly through such sites as Real People Relief (http://www.realpeoplerelief.blogspot.com/), Adopt A Family (www.adopt-a-katrina-family.com/) or Hope Haven Children’s Shelter (http://www.hopehavenshelter.org/)
No matter what method you choose, I can assure you the family will give far more to you than anything you give them.
Sincerely,