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Wed Sep 07, 2005 12:18 pm  |
I have about 100 pieces of little boy's clothing I have taken pictures of and was going to list 3 big lots on eBay but would really like instead to send them to Texas and/or Louisiana. I took 6 garbage bags full of flawed clothes to our local women's shelter this summer, anything I wouldn't sell but still in good condition. These clothes I have left are almost new but they are mainly things my son would wear during our Canadian winter, a lot of fleece, long sleeved thick cotton, lined nylon pants, etc.
Does anyone know if these sorts of items would be practical for a Texas/Louisiana winter? I've already donated to the SPCA and the Salvation Army and would like to do something else but would hate to waste the recipients and volunteers time and energy with useless clothing. |
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V2J 6P7 |
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Wed Sep 07, 2005 1:51 pm |
| I live in Michigan (right by canada, which you probably already knew), but i have an uncle who lives in arizona..judging from that climate, which is relatively closer to lousianas and texas than where im at, the coldest itd probably get on a good day is the 40s or 50s down there. I dont think they need as mu ch fleece as lets say, up here..where its blistering cold and below zero half the time in winter:/ But, with the way weather has been, id send the clothes anyway because you never know when there will be a really cold day ahead. |
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Extremely fair/sensitive skin(mild rosacea)that burns very easy.acne is rare/skin is dry.27 years old. |
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Wed Sep 07, 2005 1:59 pm |
Thanks purpleturtle, I sure hope you are feeling better. I have two addresses of locations where they've specifically requested donations for clothing, one for the Salvation Army in Baton Rouge,
7361 Airline Highway
Baton Rouge, LA
70805
And another for a software company in Corpus Christi:
CoffeeCup Software
c/o Hurricane Aid
226 South Tancahua Street
Corpus Christi, Texas 78401
Phone: 361-887-7778
Toll Free: 1-866-734-HTML (4865)
Email: aid@coffeecup.com
Here's some photos of donated items already.
http://www.coffeecup.com/hurricane/photos.php
I think I will email and ask them if the clothing would be alright. If not, I can sell it and donate what I make.  |
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V2J 6P7 |
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Wed Sep 07, 2005 10:48 pm |
im healing rather fast...though im not used to having all this yellow on my face:/
I was actually considering contributing clothes to louisiana and i think you've motivated me to go through some stuff and send them off. They need all the help they can get |
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Extremely fair/sensitive skin(mild rosacea)that burns very easy.acne is rare/skin is dry.27 years old. |
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Thu Sep 08, 2005 8:54 am |
| I'm glad you are healing quickly! I emailed the software company but they haven't gotten back to me, no doubt they are too busy to read and answer email. I looked up Houston weather, they say it can get down into the 50s during winter which is about 12 degree celcius here, downright balmy if you ask me! I'm thinking of donating more $$ maybe to a different organization to spread it out or go buy some supplies. I heard that they need plus sized clothes and under garments are always needed. Let me know you make out, purpleturtle and take care, you will be porceline again in no time! ((hugs)) |
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V2J 6P7 |
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Thu Sep 08, 2005 9:32 am |
| Tim used to live in New Orleans and says it does get really cold there in the winter. Remember, it's what you're used to. When I was a kid spending christmases in Palm Desert, California my sister and I would be in bikinis all day sitting by the pool and swimming while the Mexican gardeners would be working in long pants and parkas. I'm sure all your cold weather stuff will be put to good use this winter. |
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Thu Sep 08, 2005 10:31 am |
Dear Lolli,
I am in California and it gets very cold here in the winter time, especially at night. I am not sure about lined nylon pants, but fleece and long sleeved thick cotton would be probably very useful. |
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41, extremely fair/combination skin/ocasional breakouts, green eyes |
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Thu Sep 08, 2005 11:18 am |
| The victims from Katrina are going to be placed all over the US for housing. I know a couple of families here in MA who have applied to take a family in. 2,500 were to come to MA at our Air Force Base last week. Right now this has been on hold as our winters get very cold. I would think that any cloths you have to donate will be appreciated. |
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Thu Sep 08, 2005 11:59 am |
| I think at least 800 people were brought to San Diego, CA as well. a private person hired a jet to get them here. |
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41, extremely fair/combination skin/ocasional breakouts, green eyes |
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Thu Sep 08, 2005 1:25 pm |
Lolli,
I have lived in Texas my entire life, mostly in Dallas. It does get really cold here in the winter, although not like it does up north!  We have many nights below freezing and usually snow/ice in Dallas once or twice a year, although that's rare further south of here. The items you mentioned would be gladly welcomed I'm sure so feel free to send anything you can. |
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Fri Sep 09, 2005 9:11 am |
Lolli,
if you do spend money to an organization, i suggest you find one that isn't the red cross. I've read and heard too many times that they don't even contribute all of their money to people in real need. I have an article as well where they a very small amount of the huge amount of money they made towards 9/11 and thought it was more important to put the rest on the "war on terror"
Article here:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/september2005/010905redcross.htm
Its sad you have to be careful where to send your donations. |
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Extremely fair/sensitive skin(mild rosacea)that burns very easy.acne is rare/skin is dry.27 years old. |
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Fri Sep 09, 2005 11:33 pm |
Thanks everyone! The cold is relative, isn't it? They got back to me and said they've been completely over run with clothing and would appreciate personal care items instead! Also that it was 101 the other day the clothes would most likely be too warm. <shrug> I'm glad they took the time to email me back, they are busy.
Purpleturtle, I agree about the Red Cross, the SPCA and Salvation Army are the two who have already gotten our contributions. The Salvation Army downtown New Orleans was taking people in during the flooding and housed almost 300 people in their attic for 5 days.
I'll auction them off I suppose and try to get a money order the local New Orleans SA when the mail is running down there. I was looking forward to not having to deal with the auctions, I have no passion or interest in kid's clothes, now cosmetics, skincare and women's clothes I love to sell! |
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V2J 6P7 |
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Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:16 pm |
FYI - I did a bit of volunteer work the first weekend after the storm to help set the shelter here in Austin for the 4,000 evacuees that were due to arrive a few hours later (I’m so proud of my fellow Texans for opening their homes, hearts and checkbooks to more than 225,000 of our next-door “neighbors” from Louisana, 75% of whom said they plan to stay in TX permanently!).
Anyway, here’s the stuff that we’ve been told are now needed for the Katrina survivors now that they are moving out of the shelters and beginning to find permanent housing:
• Pots/pans/glasses/flatware;
• Beds, chairs, tables (i.e.: basic furniture),
• Towels, washclothes, etc.;
• Bed linens, pillows, blankets, etc;
• Alarm clocks (they’re getting to the point where they are either newly employed or are going out to apply for available jobs);
Basically, these evacuees need stuff to set up housekeeping. Imagine that you’ve just moved away from your parent’s home to your own (unfurnished) apartment for the first time, but you didn’t take anything with you from your parent’s place, so you have to buy and setup everything from scratch! If you’ve got an old TV, VCR or stereo, or even an old computer, they would LOVE to have it.
It’s important for the kids to be back to as normal a routine as possible, so you can’t go wrong donating toys, sporting equipment or bicycles....
In addition to the above stuff, what these people need more than anything are jobs for the adults and schooling for the kids! If you don’t own your own company so you’re not able to offer employment, then donate nice clothing/shoes that you’d wear to an interview (mostly “blue” collar jobs) to help these folks be hired (you know what they say about first impressions!). For kids, donate school supplies and backpacks, stuff like that.
I think it’s great that everyone is wanting to help, especially our neighbors outside the U.S.! Personally, I’ve never done anything like it before, but when the call went out at midnight on September 3 for volunteers to go down to the Austin Convention Center to help setup the shelter for the evacuees who would be arriving at 5am that morning, I jumped in my car and drove the 30 miles into town just so that I could do something – anything – substantive that would help make a difference to these poor, traumatized people, rather than just sit there glued to the TV while I wrung my hands and wondered what I could do to help, and I’ve got to tell you that it really felt good. All it really amounted to was giving these people a cot and a blanket and a pillow, along with a change of clothes and a bar of soap, but they were just so grateful to finally have someone show them some compassion, care and concern after all those long days of seeming indifference from their country. It probably did more good for me than it did for them, but it really seemed to help them to get a hug or a shoulder to cry on. You know, I loaned my cell phone to I don’t know how many victims who were trying to locate their family or friends after becoming separated during the crazy evacuation process. I’ll probably have a heart attack when I get my next bill from all of the overage charges, but it was completely worth it just to see the looks of joy and/or relief on their faces when they were able to finally get in touch with their loved ones.
Many of the survivors that I spoke to told me that they don’t ever want to return to New Orleans and planned to stay permanently in Austin, but others were bound and determined to go back and rebuild their beloved city and I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about that. While New Orleans has always been one of my fave American cities (I used to spend my birthday – Halloween – in the French Quarter about every other year, in a party which rivals only Mardi Gras!), I know that unless they take this opportunity to rebuild the city right (which would include massively upgrading the levy systems in the city, and rebuilding some of the natural coastline), another hurricane will come through in 50, 100 or 150 years, and it will level the entire area again unless the city planners and engineers take this opportunity to learn from past mistakes – unlike the Presidents Bush who haven’t seemed to have learned anything at all (Hurricane Andrew struck south Florida in 1992 and the federal response/relief efforts took nearly a week to materialize, as well).
The fact that the lessons learned from Hurricane Andrew over a decade ago hadn’t been taken to heart as evidenced by the days immediately following Hurricane Katrina makes me tremble in dread at the thought of another terrorist attack on American soil like September 11th, because I fear that America isn’t ready for another man-made catastrophe any more than we were for something thrown at us by Mother Nature....
Anyway, you are correct to be wary of donating to charities who may not give the monies to those who need it. We’re already hearing stories of do-gooders becoming victimized by charitable scams....Here is a list of several reputable charities provided by my “boss,” the TX Attorney General:
• Salvation Army - 1/800/725-2769
• Goodwill Industries
• America’s Second Harvest - 1/800/344-8070
• Catholic Charities, USA - 1/800/919-9338
• Christian Disaster Response - 1/941/956-5183 or 1/941/551-9554
• Convoy of Hope - 1/417/823-8998
• Operation Blessing - 1/800/436-6348
There are many more, but those are the among the top-listed.
One thing that can always be used is food donations! Donate items to your own local foodbank because in situations such as this, there is often a multi-city or multi-state response where local food-banks actually ship food to areas hard-hit by natural disasters. Even if your donation isn’t used to feed a Katrina victim, it’ll be used to feed some other poor, hungry soul in your town.... |
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Über-oily,semi-sensitive, warm/fair-skinned redhead, 38...Will swap/shop for members outside U.S. and/or make homemade skincare products upon demand-PM me for details. |
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Mon Sep 12, 2005 3:19 pm |
| Thank you so much Carrie. I was thinking about you wondering if you were close. You are a sweetie to volunteer. |
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V2J 6P7 |
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