Mississippi

• Foster Grandparent Program volunteers in Yazoo cook and wash clothes for the 1,000 National Guard troops deployed to the area.
   
• 1 Foster Grandparent works with 20 special-needs clients who were evacuated to the North Mississippi Regional Center in Oxford.Additional Foster Grandparents will work with the 80 evacuees in the city and 40 in the county schools.
   
• Indianola Senior Companion Program volunteers are cooking at local evacuee shelters.
   
• Clarksdale RSVP volunteers are assisting the 500 evacuees to the area.
   
• Meridian RSVP volunteers are working with other community groups and churches to tutor and serve displaced children.
   
• 20 Natchez RSVP volunteers provide needed services in 10 shelters that house 6,000 evacuees.
   
• Tupelo RSVP volunteers sort and distribute donated items, prepare hot meals, and assist in local shelters.
   
• 4 AmeriCorps*VISTA members serving with the Downtown Jackson Community Development Corporation have been re-assigned to assist at the Food/Supply Distribution Center in Jackson. This organization has collaborated with the American Red Cross to open up its computer lab to serve the victims of Hurricane Katrina. 
   
• A VISTA member at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Community and Civic Engagement is coordinating a volunteer center at the University of Mississippi in Oxford to place volunteers with various agencies such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the United Way; nearly 1,200 families are being served by this center.
   
• The Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service plays a key role in managing Mississippi Emergency Management Agency’s Multi-Agency Staging Area, the warehouse collection site for the state. 20 AmeriCorps*NCCC members assist this warehouse operation; a Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mississippi VISTA member is also serving there.

Florida

• The Special Volunteer Program of Orlando is utilizing volunteers to assist in relief efforts for last year’s hurricanes.

Georgia

• 2 AmeriCorps*VISTA members with Mach Academy are processing and distributing supplies to evacuees that have relocated to Augusta from the Gulf Coast.
   
• The Georgia Southern University Area Senior Companion Program volunteers are gathering canned goods, cleaning supplies, and clothing for hurricane victims.
   
• AmeriCorps*VISTA members with the St. Vincent DePaul Society in Atlanta are coordinating volunteers interested in providing assistance to evacuees in Atlanta and referring individuals with financial or in-kind donations to appropriate agencies.

Iowa

• The Fort Dodge RSVP is teaming up with Phi Beta Kappa students at Iowa Central Community College to collect Teddy Bears for children affected by Hurricane Katrina and deliver them by truck to the Gulf Coast.

Kentucky

• Homeland Security AmeriCorps members are processing Katrina evacuees coming to Davies, Hancock, and McLean counties.
   
• An AmeriCorps member with the Student Service Consortium Centerin Garrard County is preparing personal-care kits that are beingdistributed by the Kentucky Disaster Management Office to Katrina evacuees.
   
• A Coalition for the Homeless AmeriCorps member serves in the Hurricane Katrina Re-Integration Center in Louisville, completing intake interview assessments and providing assistance to hundreds of evacuees arriving to the area.

Missouri

• 3 additional Kansas City AmeriCorps*VISTA members were deployed on September 18 to Mississippi with the St. Louis Safety Corps AmeriCorps team.

New Jersey

• The CONTACT of Mercer County RSVP program has agreed to take 1-800-SUICIDE calls from the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina to provide counseling and referrals.
   
• The Gloucester County RSVP works along with the United Way and Red Cross to assist the 19 families who have arrived in the county from New Orleans.
   
• Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion Program volunteers in Cape May County collected money to purchase drinking water, which was then delivered to the local National Guard unit for shipment to the hurricane victims.

New Mexico

• 375 RSVP volunteers from across New Mexico have teamed up with the Road Runner Food Bank to collect clothes, shoes, belts, hosiery, canned food, stuffed animals, and toys, along with monetary donations to send to the Red Cross. RSVP volunteers have also raised funds to send to the Red Cross through food sales, etc.
   
• Foster Grandparents have been working with children in classrooms where they are making comfort packages for the children affected by Katrina. These include coloring books, crayons, homemade cards, stuffed animals, and school supplies.
   
• RSVP volunteers in Belen teamed up with a local business to deliver by truck 34,500 bottles of water to Louisiana.
   
• The Albuquerque Convention Center provided temporary shelter for approximately 90 evacuees from Louisiana.RSVP and FGP volunteers collected items such as hand sanitizers, baby wipes, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, etc. for the Katrina victims/evacuees.

North Carolina

• Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions at the J. Iverson Riddle Developmental Center support the American Red Cross by collecting food, clothing, toiletries, and monetary donations.
   
• RSVP volunteers with Koinonia have taken bottled water donations and sent them to the Gulf Coast.
   
• AmeriCorps*VISTA sponsor Spaulding Family Resource Center in Spring Hope is serving as a collection point for non-perishable foods and school supplies, with 2 VISTA members are coordinating the collection.

Rhode Island

• 21 RSVP volunteers with the Seniors Helping Others program assisted 102 guests from Louisiana. The volunteers sat with them during their first hot meal in 14 days, assisted them in packing a bag of snacks to take to Middletown, and helped them navigate a medical check. In addition, they brought gifts to the evacuees and made sure arrangements were being made for them to move forward
   
• In Newport, 2 AmeriCorps*VISTA members are serving in a computer lab where evacuees can communicate with loved ones online and help them search for jobs, housing, and other community resources available to them.

South Carolina

• 18 RSVP of Greenville volunteer drivers are offering transportation to hospitals, clinics, and doctors’ offices for non-emergency medical needs to the more than 600 evacuees in Greenville County.
   
• 5 Aiken/Barnwell RSVP volunteers helped coordinate thecollection offood, clothing, and other items; they are taking two tractor-trailer loads to Louisiana.

Tennessee

• In Franklin, an AmeriCorps*VISTA member coordinates a program that transports approximately 200 volunteers daily to receive and sort clothing donated to the more than 500 evacuees housed in Williamson County.

Washington

• The Volunteer Center/RSVP in Olympia is running the statewide toll-free hotline for Katrina response. Staffing of the toll-free hotline for Katrina Reponses/Operation Evergreen is an all-volunteer effort led by AmeriCorps*VISTA members.

West Virginia

• Several RSVP volunteers with the American Red Cross are serving in many different capacities to help Katrina evacuees at Camp Dawson.3 AmeriCorps*VISTA members also continue to provide support at Camp Dawson.

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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