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America responds: (From the AP story, “Donations Pour in for Katrina Relief“) Americans are responding to Hurricane Katrina with a massive outpouring of giving, at times overwhelming call centers and computer servers set up by charities to field donations. Total donations passed the $200 million mark by Friday, four days after the storm slammed into the Gulf Coast. The bulk of those funds were collected by The American Red Cross, which said it has raised $196.9 million from individuals and corporations.
Donations to the Red Cross so far fall short of the $550 million the agency raised after last December’s tsunami, or the $1 billion in total donations it took in after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But the volume of calls - about 100,000 a day this week - has vastly outpaced the response after previous disasters, suggesting the donation total could rise substantially.
“It’s greater than any response we’ve had in memory,” Ryland Dodge, a spokesman for the Red Cross said.
tags: katrina, red cross
Nashville responds, and then, well, go figure: Nashville-based Thomas Nelson’s CEO Michael Hyatt blogged his decision to authorize the world’s largest publisher of Bibles to contribute 100,000 Bibles in response to requests from hurricane-affected areas, as well as $100,000 from employees and the company. Hyatt has left the comments open on his blog post and the response has been quite perplexing in the mis-directed anger displayed by some.
(As the Gideons are also based in Nashville, I’m sure they’ll be responding with Bibles as well.)
Houston responds: Abram Himelstein, a New Orleans evacuee, is blogging from Houston, on a blog called In Exile the Houston Chronicle has set up. It is heartening to see the coverage tonight of all that Houston is doing to help in this crisis. The humanitarian stories that are coming from Houston tonight are of the type that we hope to hear in the wake of natural disasters.
Houston Chronicle’s Katrina Special Report (RSS)
tags: katrina, katrina survivors, katrina response, houston
NOLA.com needs help: The Times-Picayune’s website, which has been an incredible resource for the past five days, is in need of web production help.
(via: Jeff Jarvis)
tag: katrina
Nashville responds: OpenChurches.com has been launched as a clearing house for matching Katrina-affected people in need of long-term housing with Christian churches and members able to meet their needs. OpenChurches.com will maintain a database of all participating congregations and their ability to help. They will then connect people in need of housing with congregations equipped to help.
From the website:
The idea for OpenChurches.com was conceived by members of the Brentwood Hills Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee. Like everyone watching the horrific images on television in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, these Christians asked themselves, “What can we do?” They knew there were hundreds and thousands of Christian congregations eager and able to help, but faced the reality that there was no real mechanism tying them all together.
tags: katrina, openchurches, katrina survivors, katrina response, nashville
(via: Nashville is Talking)
Nashville responds: Opryland Hotel is offering an unprecedented (that’s what the press release says) rate of $49/night* to hurricane victims. Additionally, the Radisson at Opryland, owned and operated by Gaylord Hotels and adjacent to the Gaylord Opryland Resort is offering the same rate of $49/night. (A list of Nashville hotels with reduced rates for hurricane victims.)
Nashville responds: The Nashville Area Chapter of the American Red Cross has opened a shelter for victims of Hurricane Katrina who are stranded in Davidson County. The shelter is located at Crievewood Baptist Church, 480 Hogan Road, Nashville. The shelter opened its doors at 2:00 p.m. today (Sept. 1). The Nashville Chapter had previously teamed up with the Williamson County Chapter to open a shelter in Franklin, Tenn. The shelter, located at the Clearview Baptist Church, 537 Franklin Road, has been open since Tuesday. (More information here.)
Nashville responds: The “Country Reaches Out” concert to benefit the American Red Cross’s hurricane-relief efforts will be broadcast live from the Grand Ole Opry House beginning at 9 p.m. EDT on Sept. 27 by the Great American Country television network as well as on the DIY and Fine Living networks. The three networks are owned by the E.W. Scripps Co. The show will also be heard in its entirety on the Nashville radio station WSM and on Sirius Satellite Radio, and on the Web site www.Opry.com. Among the artists scheduled to appear on the commercial-free TV event are Alan Jackson, Alison Krauss, Craig Morgan and Billy Currington.
Nashville Library responds: A list of “what Nashvillians can do” and other Katrina-response resources is being maintained by the Nashville Library. Also, Katrina evacuees who are in Nashville have been approved to obtain a Nashville library card and can use the computers at the downtown library or branches for Internet access.
Survivor databases: Earlier, I posted a link to a survivor/missing person database which led several people to e-mail me links to others. I’ve updated that previous post with a longer list. My earlier point was a wish that these great efforts could be pooled into some type of open database.
tags: katrina, katrina survivors
Proving once again: That mom knows best. By the way, BusyMom is one of the many Nashvillians who have opened their homes to friends and family who are Katrina evacuees.
Which reminds me to remind folks: There are lots of Nashville attractions that are offering free admission to those who have found themselves with Nashville friends and family (or just have found themselves here).
More Nashville responses: While the online Red Cross donations are great, I felt better doing some face-to-face responding yesterday, so I went to the Gaylord Entertainment Center to make a contribution. Folks from several media outlets will be there again today collecting money.
Also, my friends at the Nashville-based national magazine for members of the National Guard and their families, GX Magazine, have established the GX Family Relief Fund. More information about the fund will be available on GX Online later today.
From Mitch Powers, GX magazine publisher:
“We have established the GX Family Relief Fund to accept donations that will go directly to aid Guard members and family affected by hurricane Katrina. 1,000’s of Guard members and their families are devastated by this catastrophe. Many Louisiana Guard members are returning from deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan to find their homes destroyed and family evacuated. Not only this, but many will be re-deployed to assist with this domestic mission as well. The GX Family Relief Fund will forward 100% of every donation to the appropriate state agencies in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi for direct distribution to Guard members and their families. GX magazine will be matching the first $5000 dollars in donations.”
tags: katrina, katrina response, national guard, nashville
WSJ news tracker: The Wall Street Journal has “freed” it’s news tracker of Katrina-response stories.
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