Hurricane Katrina Rescue and Relief efforts

For information on how you can help the Hurricane Katrina Rescue and Relief efforts, go to http://www.fema.gov/press/2005/katrinadonations.shtm.

A specific charity that I feel looks attractive is the Mercy Corps. While they primarily work outside the US, the similarities between the devastation in the South and that seen after the Indonesian tsunami are inescapable, so they are responding to the affected area. They have dispatched a team led by the same man who led the team to Sri Lanka after the Indian Ocean tsunami.

They are providing immediate relief through a partner organization that was among the first responders. In a couple of weeks though, the crisis will have abated and people will face restarting their lives with no home, no job and no stability for their families. Mercy Corps will be working to provide paying jobs clearing debris, rebuilding communities etc. similar to the help they provided in Indonesia. This lets the people who have lost everything begin to buy what they need and rebuild their lives with dignity, giving them a hand up rather than handouts.

Mercy Corps is also looking to get the children into school which provides the stability they need in their lives. This will be an ongoing mission long after all the news networks have returned to their regular programming and this disaster is no longer in the front of our minds. If you do not yet have a favorite organization to donate money to, please consider Mercy Corps.

You'll find the Mercy Corps site at http://www.mercycorps.org/.

Daniel Pentecost's blog also has some good info on what you can do to help with Katrina.