Thursday, September 22, 2005
CONTACT: Sandy Scott
Phone: 202-606-6724
Email: sscott@cns.gov
Iowa
- RSVP staff and volunteers from Decorah have been involved in organizing a cleaning- supply drive for Bay St. Louis, Miss., with 15 volunteers taking donations and getting them ready for shipment.
Massachusetts
- An RSVP volunteer in the Worcester area has been deployed to the Gulf region with thelocal Red Cross Disaster Team. Additionally, the program has recruited 5 volunteers to assist in the local American Red Cross chapter's phone bank.
New York
- AmeriCorps members serving with West Seneca Youth Bureau joined forces with a Buffalo radio station and accepted donations to be shipped to hurricane-stricken areas. Ten tractor-trailers with clothes, food, water, toiletries, diapers, flashlights, batteries, boxes of candy, andsmall toys were collected.
Pennsylvania
- Hundreds of students from Northeast Philadelphia‘s New Foundations Charter School have donated items and created 50 backpacks filled with school supplies for student evacuees. The school is supported by the Institute for Global Education and Service-Learning, a Learn and Serve America grantee.
- 50 Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD) volunteers with the American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania are volunteering in the Red Cross' National Call Center. Several VOAD volunteers trained and organized under a Special Volunteer Program grant also have been sent to the Gulf region.
Texas
- 3 Housing Services of Texas VISTA members in Dallas have assisted with the coordination of 10 community volunteers. The members have helped raise over $50,000 in donations and in-kind goods.VISTA members have also researched the needs of area shelters, networked with other area non-profits to coordinate efforts, and worked with the community to start up a “Super Share House” for food and clothing for affected families.
- 21 Center for Faith and Health Initiatives VISTA members have helped recruit and coordinate 242 community volunteers and helped raise $231,652 in donations and services for Katrina evacuees in Houston and Beaumont.
- 150 Houston/Harris County RSVP volunteers have helped raise over $500,000 for the relief effort and assisted with the management of over 500 volunteers. RSVP CERT members were involved in the efforts at the Astrodome and Reliant Park, where they directed traffic, set up cots, and served as information officers.
For the latest news, information, and updates on hurricane relief and recovery efforts from the Corporation for National and Community Service, please visit http://www.nationalservice.gov/katrina.
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