Illinois

• 7 RSVP volunteers from Sangamon County are handling the screening and interviewing of hurricane assistance volunteers for the local American Red Cross.
   
• 11 RSVP volunteers from Chicago are supporting the Chicago-area Red Cross by preparing and serving meals to other volunteers, answering the telephone hotline, and boxing supplies to be shipped to hurricane victims in the South.
   
• A Chicago RSVP volunteer has been in Alabama and Mississippi since September 1, serving ready-made meals to disaster volunteers and providing general office support.
   
• 8 Alexander County RSVP volunteers were involved in a "Gospel Fest" in Cairo that raised over $2,000 for Katrina-related relief efforts. They also made arrangements for housing and collections of clothing and food for14 evacuee familiesin the Cairo area.
   
• 7 Pulaski County RSVP volunteers are working with 10 different evacuee families. They have gathered and dispersed needed items, as well as furnished transportation to evacuees seeking assistance.
   
• Throughout the Shawnee Peninsula seven-county area, RSVP volunteers are working with church and community groups by hosting collection drives for food, clothing, personalitems, cleaning supplies, and money for the Katrina relief effort.

Indiana

• Dearborn County RSVP volunteers have been sorting, boxing, and labeling a wide variety of donated items, which is loaded in trailers and delivered to the Gulf Coast.

Iowa

• The Charles City Foster Grandparent Program is gathering school supplies and putting them in backpacksfor childrenwho were affected by hurricane Katrina.
   
• A VISTA member with the Red Cross in Marshalltown is training volunteers who are being deployed to the Gulf region. Additionally, the VISTA has set up the training for four other disaster classes that are going to be held next month, written press releases, developed fundraising agreements, taken donations, and recruited volunteers.
   
• A VISTA member with the Mahaska County Red Cross has been deployed to Montgomery, Ala., to provide family services.
   
• A VISTA member with the American Red Cross Grant Wood Chapter in Cedar Rapids was deployed to Jackson, Miss., to serve as a night shelter manager.

Massachusetts

• 12 Worcester Area RSVP volunteers are registering Katrina evacuees with various government agencies and charitable organizations in hopes of securing assistance.

Minnesota

• 6 RSVP volunteers with Minnesota Volunteers of America are separating and packing new items for Katrina evacuees who will be resettling in Minnesota.

Texas

• 29 Travis County RSVP volunteers are serving meals, providing medical assistance and support, assisting with case management, and sorting in-kind donations of food and clothes at the Austin Convention Center; other volunteers are working directly with the Red Cross and United Way Capital Area, performing such tasks as responding to phone calls and email inquiries, providing assistance to children, and managing volunteers.
   
• 4 Rio Grande Valley RSVP volunteers are sorting and packing supplies for those left homeless by hurricane Katrina.
   
• 6 Foster Grandparents with the Austin State School system have been reassigned to work with 6 hurricane evacuee families. Additionally, the Austin Foster Grandparent Program donated $200 to the local Red Cross.
   
• 233 volunteers from the City of Austin’s Special Volunteer Program have participated in relief and response efforts connected to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

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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