Ok as you know Katrina wiped out many MANY families sadly one of the families devastated by this was my parents home in Alabama-they built this house over 50 years ago and it is where everyone of there 7 children grew up-It was my childhood home and the lose of it is devastating-worse than the home is the loss of every heirloom and every photo we ever amassed as a family with exception to ones we as their children had.My parents are 78 years old and it is overwhelming the loss.My parents can rebuild eventually and have 7 children to help them do so but alot of my friends from high school are also in a sad state-people I dont even know but see on television are heartbreaking also.With that said we are going to try our best to get to my parents this weekend-Im in Texas and getting thru LA is gonna be a feat in itself not to count the fact that gas will be near impossible to get and even then itll be high but to me I HAVE to do this.I ask for any nonperishable items you can contribute,house items you name it.I realize few will be able to get these to me in 2 days but I will in deed be making another trip so if any of ya'll can send anything-towels,blankets,giftcards whatever I will be happy to present it to the shelter in my parents area and to friends I know need it in alabama.We ourselves are going to stock up on what we can here in Houston before we leave but as you can see the devastation is astounding and is more than 1 person can even begin to comprehend but anything you can do is appreciated.I also have a paypal addy I am taking donations to so I can buy items here and get to people I know and can see with my own eyes need it-I believe Red Cross is a very VERY useful company but alot of people get lost in the shuffle in these tragedies and we are hearing ALOT about NO but I hear very little if anything about Fairhope alabama which is where my family and friends live and I want help for them.ANYTHING is appreciated-email me for my addy or paypal name.

I cannot get stuff to you in 2 days but the next time you know you are going down let me know and see what I can get together for you or even when you get back.

Take care and becareful

Who is all going down with you??

We are actually not leaving in morning like I thought when I wrote this-looks like we are heading there next wednesday for safety reasons and other reasons.My SO is going with me and another friend from that area who has family there.So that gives people 5 days to send stuff to me and also hope gas prices go down and have place to fill up when get there along with the fact my parents have FEMA and other people coming out to house on monday and tuesday-hopefully will only make this one trip til things cool down.

Please be careful when you leave donations with charity organizations. Unfortunately, the greedy tend to get there first. After the 94 Northridge Earthquake, the Red Cross, army trucks, food banks, etc. opened up. My neighbor disgusted me when she came over and told me to run and get a box of "free food" like she did. The BITCH didn't lose anything but glass dishes and household odds and ends, yet I noticed tons of greedy people grabbing as much as they could while the needy ones were too weak to fight. It made me sick.

When you get your items down to the shelters, you might want to hang around and pass the stuff out yourself. You'll know the difference between the needers and the takers. It's hard to believe, but it's also hard to believe looters were stealing blenders and cases of tennis shoes.

I have a group of women in a warehouse in Baton Rouge that are accepting boxes and logging everything in to make sure the right people get it. Just watch out for those grabbing hands, okay? I wish I could go with you, nothing feels better than helping people who need it.

E- mail me your address Alatina.. I do not have a lot but will get some stuff together.. That gives me time to get with my family..

thanks both of you.we have been going down to the dome the last 2 nights-I just feel like I HAVE to do something.For a few years now I go down on friday or saturday night to give houston homeless sack lunches and now I am just broadening my scope-there are alot of people still on the streets near the dome but Im not sure how to continue on because they are getting VERY hostile I dont even know what to say to them-the ones who were bussed in only to find out the dome was packed are very mad but houston is doing its best and working on alternatives.Anyway anything ya'll can donate is appreciated as the N O people are getting ALOT of help but like I said b4 the smaller outlying communities get lost in the shuffle sometimes.

thanks Bubba and Zoe for the things you are sending to me-this will be much appreciated-just hope that out of 90 views to this post ya'll wont be the only 2 to reply with stuff although I am sure everyone is doing something in their own way perhaps in their own local area-just want the small towns not to be forgotten ya know?This really hit home for me-very sad.

Kudos to you, Alatina, for your hard work and hands on helping in Houston. I'm so proud of you! I'm so sorry about your parent's home. Please have a safe journey to get them. I know this is so hard, yet I can't imagine what you must be going through. I'm so sorry. I am doing what I am able to do here in North Carolina. We have folks being bussed in this weekend and the opportunities to donate food, clothing, household items, school supplies, personal items, etc are starting to increase here. I suppose I need to keep my participation local. If there is something, anything, you need, however, please please post it here and I know you will get what you need. If I can do it, I will. So will others, I just know it. God Bless You!!!!

thank you-I am hoping to get stuff in soon as there is a name and face to the people I want to help-makes it more personal for me and makes me a bit desperate sounding I know but it is my friends and family not nameless people which I agree need help for sure.

Girl, good luck to you. It must be hard trying to help a handful when there are hundreds looking at you with hungry eyes. I've been obsessed with the news, and hundreds of millions of dollars have been pledged, so let's hope big chunks of relief start flowing in to all areas soon. Sorry for not sending things to you but I'm doing what I can from here. Peace.

so long as your doing something ya know? I know what you mean its just sooo hard to look at these people-I mean we go downtown every night to see what we can do and its just a sea of depression and sadness and Im not even in N Orleans-Houston is just a chaos but it is indeed getting much better-they are certainly eating well-kinda makes me a bit sad to know it took something like this to really get Houston caring more-we have thousands of homeless here every day that no one cares to feed or clothe-anyway I tend to get on a soapbox with these things-comes from being a social worker for 8 years.

want to say thanks to everyone who has offered help and to hope for others-the numbers are overwhelming here and the stuff will certainly be distributed out to people who surely need it.

Call me crazy.. but I think its important to stress that often those asking for "money" who are not a non profit can often be scams.. and it is a very serious offense that can result in some jail time and fines.

No offense to you alatina but I've seen first hand how compassionate etc. someone can be during a time like this only to turn out to be spending the money themselves.

I'd recommend instead of you trying to collect money contact some other organizations unlike the red cross. Go to http://www.fema.gov/ which has a ton of resources and things that any citizen in this country can apply for and receive if the need is proven. They aren't like the red cross.. and many other organizations arent either. If you really feel that isnt enough then start collecting supplies instead of money.

Right now, im looking into 4-5 different organizations to transport and dispurse a truckload of clothing.. (plus size) which i plan to campaign through my surgeons office and various support groups, and of course the media. I will bag and tag all size, types etc. before they are off to the area.