Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Oh YAY! Everybody send stuff. SEND STUFF.

And Candy, if you’re a freak then we must be separated-at-birth freaks, because that was the first thing I thought too. I was like “Okay, socks and towels will keep any books from rattling around…” I’m throwing in a couple, because I KNOW we’re not the only people who go nuts if left too long without reading material.

And look! Laura just explained more about the socks and things on my blog, where she got the info that it’s all needed. Gah, that chokes me up, how the lady at the checkout helped.

Anyway, yeah - everybody give some stuff, okay? Okay.

Someone somewhere- I don’t remember where- pointed out that there are many people who will be spending extended time in a shelter and that they will need things like books and magazines to help spend the time there. So books are a very legitimate thing to send. After all, the money is going to need to be spent on necessities. If we dont’ send books, there won’t be books :( And a life without books… *sniffle*

I picked up two six-packs of pedialyte, too. Diarrhea is a huge threat to these people.

On a different note: I just spent the last half hour looking for funny science fiction book covers so that I could try to do like you guys (and bam) do. And, damn, what is it? Are romance novel covers intrinsically a hoot, or is your job just a hell of a lot more difficult than I thought? I couldn’t even find any covers with preposterously phallic rockets on ‘em, and I know those exist, I grew up with those stories!

Back to plan B for my blog.

Plus size clothing is also needed.  For both man and women.

I just got home from working at the Austin Red Cross shelter Saturday and Sunday, about 13 hours each day.  (And damn, do my feet ever fucking HURT.)  So I can give you an idea about what’s needed at shelters, if you’d like to also donate closer to home.  This is, of course, assuming what we’re getting from people here is pretty typical.

Yes, books, book, please send books!  I spent a couple of hours yesterday handing out magazines.  People didn’t care that some of them were from 2001.  They wanted to READ something.  Can you get some large print books, too?  I never was able to find one single large print bible at either of the shelters I was at.  Surely some bookstore could donate a cartload of those.  People want ‘em bad.  In lieu of that, magnifying glasses, the type you’d use if you were blind in one eye and couldn’t see out of the other and wanted to read?  Yeah, those.  That would be helpful.

Purses, and wallets for men and women.  People are getting their clothes replaced, and every one of the evacuees I dealt with threw their old clothes away.  We had no clothing shortage.  Still, they got clean bodies and clean clothes and clean beds, yet whenever they wanted to pull out ID or a grandkid’s pic, their wallet and purse stunk of New Orleans.  We didn’t get many of those donated and getting people away from the infection risk, not to mention the memories that scent evokes, is huge.

Men’s shoes.  Women and kids we got in loads, but not so much men’s.  Anything is good, but maybe Teva-style sandals could be better?  More adjustable so you could fudge it a little if we didn’t have the size they needed.

Nail clippers.  Other toiletries seemed to be under control.

And that’s what our shelter needed, as far as materials went.  We were swimming in volunteers this weekend, which was just awesome, but people are going back to work tomorrow and they’re really nervous they won’t have enough people to work.  If you can, please, please find a shelter and volunteer.  I don’t care if you don’t think you have a needed skill.  You do.  If you have two hands and are willing to haul ass to get shit for a doctor or a nurse, we had a job for you.  If you were willing to hold the hand of someone who was confused and scared, we had a use for you.  If you can hand out bottles of water and juice, or slap food on a plate, or make a bed, or play with a kid… you get the idea. 

Go.  Do it.  It feels good even when it hurts, physically or emotionally.  You never know if someday YOU might be the one on the cot, needing someone. 

And just to clarify—the Ferrar Fire Apparatus address is for rescue and firefighters, and on the requested list are socks, underwear, t-shirts and towels.  This isn’t to say they don’t want tampons, but they didn’t specifically ask for them. ;p

LK

P.S.  Though I’m sure a small care package of goodies would probably be appreciated, just mark on the box clearly that’s what it is.

SEND BOOKS!  One of the first things I did, after I realized I couldn’t go home anytime soon, was go out and buy the books that I preordered from Amazon that the bastards shipped early.  Now they will be forever lost in transit!!!  It is wonderful to be able to do something other than obsessively look at the news and internet!  So far I am lucky.  Home survived the storm and flood, and I’ve heard that looters don’t read.  The books were one of the few things left at the looted Wal-mart.  My TBR pile (more like bookshelf) should still be there!!!

I don’t want to be a spoilsport, but I remember after Hurricane Andrew we all sent stuff down to south Florida and it ended up rotting in huge piles of trash.  Please, before you send clothes or other items for hurricane relief, make sure the agency you’re sending it to wants these items, and that means confirmation from the agency, not second hand information from a blog or website.

Again, I’m not trying to dampen anyone’s enthusiasm, but as a Floridian I clearly remember what a mess it was the last time this happened.  Agencies that help people said that with the exception of blood donations, they wanted money, and only money, because then they could prioritize their spending and make sure it was properly allocated.

Thanks for the reality check, Darlene.

Just a FYI - Ferrar is a wonderful company that donated a fire truck to NY after 911.  They will get items to the fire fighters.  Those men and women have been working around the clock since this started.

While I don’t disagree, Darlene, right now the situation is so dire (this according to people I’ve spoken to on the ground) that I don’t think things are going to be thrown in the trash in the near future.  I thought about this aspect a good deal, and wrote a bit about it over in a comment on Beth’s blog. 

It’s definitely good to get as much info as possible first.  A certain percentage of what people donate is basically trash when it’s donated.  However, if people do some research and send new and requested items, I don’t think there’s too much worry about it getting used by someone who needs it.

This has simply overwhelmed the usual organizational process, and will go on longer than any hurricane aftermath we’ve ever seen.  A lot of people are right now without things they need, even though there’s a lot of money being donated.  I don’t fault this at all, but a check is not a pair of socks or a book to read—it takes time for that conversion to take place.  Sometimes it just takes people stepping in personally to fill a gap like that.

Hi all -
I wanted to let you know about a homegrown relief effort I’ve been working on. It’s called Blankets For the Gulf (www.BlanketsForTheGulf.com). My goal is to collect 5,000 handmade blankets by December 1st. My thought is that by December it will be starting to get cold in the south. In addition, it will be a lovely time for people to get a “gift”—that’s where the handmade part comes in. I know that people will be receiving blankets from shelters, but I want them to have something special that lets them know that others in the U.S. are thinking of them. My family will be hand-delivering these blankets over the Christmas holidays - I’m taking suggestions of locations now (submit on my site).
Thanks all!

yeah, this is way different from 9/11!

BTW, I just got a great thank you letter from the ladies at http://blondesense.blogspot.com/(I’m sending paypal money every which way)

“As you probably already know, we did a huge buy & drop last night (Second
Harvest Food Bank of New Orleans truck caravan), of over $1,200 worth of
food, first aid, baby food, etc.

As soon as PayPal & my bank get their shit straight, we are going to be
doing it again and again and again, as well as bringing supplies to several
of the many shelters around this area, who have been INUNDATED with
hurricane victims.  We’re also getting together supplies for the LSU Vet
School, who are sheltering & treating so many abandoned/orphaned animals, as
well as the animals of folks who are stuck in shelters and can’t keep them.

And none of it would be possible without people like you.

And believe me, after the week I’ve had, if the liquor store had been open
tonight, I’d be typing through JD goggles, honey!

When this is all over, I am fully prepared to take a three-week sabbatical,living on frozen pizza, Sara Lee Cheesecake, and Coca-Cola & JD.  I might even let the boyfriend hang out here some.

Thank you again and again and again!

About the books—- I wouldn’t send them yet.  Yes, people are bored titless in the shelters, but the Red Cross SURELY isn’t equipped ormentally capable of disseminating books, and you would have to find somebody locally who can give them out properly.  I would volunteer to do it, I’m a bibliophile of the first order, but I’m tit-deep in Wally World as it is.  But google the subject, and lemme know if you find anything.”

I mentioned that I would give them money even if they turned out to be Nigerian lottery attorneys and she answered:
“This week, with all of the increased e-mail traffic I’ve been doing, I’ve
gotten bank-fraud spam from Nigeria, Mexico, Honduras, and (purportedly)
London, but it was actually from California.

Those cocksuckers leap onto a tragedy faster than Karl Turdblossom Succubus
Rove.”

(I just liked the Karl Rove thing. Not that we should be name-calling at this terrible time. Nossiree.)

Laura—if you’ve got on the ground confirmation that these folks want items donated, that’s good enough for me.  What I remember from last time is donating clothing, books, household goods, etc. that turned into landfill without ever reaching the people it was intended to help.  Trucks would dump donated items on the street in Miami and Homestead, and it wouldn’t get to where it was needed, while legitimate aid agencies were desperate for cash to purchase water, toiletries, bedding and more. 

I’m not saying don’t donate, just do as much due diligence as you can to make sure the agency you believe your assistance is going to wants that assistance in the form of goods.

Thanks for the update, Candy.  Getting confirmation from folks at the site is exactly what I’m talking about, and I love your idea of getting our companies to help underwrite the cost of shipping.  Good work!

I can tell you from the shelter side, they WANT the donations.  All this stuff.  I’d say, send it to shelters, wherever you want.  Like the blogger Kate quoted said, many of them are just swimming with evacuees and overwhelmed.  They NEED that shit.

Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Catholic Charities do better with cash money.  They’ve got connections that can get more socks, water, tampons or whatever for a buck than any regular consumer. 

That’s what we’re being told here.  Stuff to shelters (and if you carry it inside and then stick around to help out for a few hours, that’s even better) and dough to charities.

Thank you so much for this information!! I’ve been desperate to find out where I might send children’s and baby clothing and books. I checked the websites of the big guys - ARC, Catholic Charities, Salvation Army - and they all said to only send money. But what you all are saying makes sense; that if you send directly to the shelters it will get used. I’d prefer they use the cash for things like food and medicines and water if they get donations of good clothing.

And who will ever think to spend donation money on books? I have a bunch of kids books just getting dusty and now they can have a good home!

Re: pedialyte. I packed it into the middle of my otherwise soft care package (socks ‘n’ maxi pads, oh boy!) I’m not sure it comes in powdered form, but I wanted to keep it simple, too. You also have to worry about the local water supply. Even if it’s fine for the locals, I wonder about the possibility of traveler’s diarrhea.

Keep up the drum beat, folks!

doug

My mom has made a sort of hobbie of sending similar care packages to random soldiers Iraq (she’ll be very happy to hear about this) and she always includes a book and some candy that won’t go bad (like peppermints or Life Savers—thought he irony of that might be bad) and from the letters she gets they are always very grateful for necessities and REALLY extra happy for the books.  Soldiers are people in a bad situation, disaster refugees are also people in a bad situation, so I assume they’d like books too.  I know if it was me, I be desperate for something to read, to escape the horror for a least a little while.

Candy - I don’t know what books I’ll send. I culled a whole bunch that I didn’t want to keep a while ago, so I have a very big box of them I can send. It’s a wide variety, and romance novels are definitely in the mix.

I’ll make a sign with this info and tape it up down in the lobby of my apartment building, then take it to work and spread the news there. As a few people here have noted, I really haven’t seen anywhere calling for any non-cash donations, so I feel obligated to spread the word. Hope everyone does the same!

Pedialyte does come in a powder form, but I’ve only seen it at hospitals.  You might try asking your local pharmacy?  (Just not Walgreens.)

What about sending powdered Powerade or other electrolyte-replinishing drinks like that?

Thanks for the info. I’m just about to go through the six year-old’s wardrobe and hoe out the too small stuff, I was hoping I could send it somewhere where it would be useful. And I’ve got kids’ books too, stuff my son sniffs at as being too young for him now. Yay, the mean ladies at Goodwill will have to be mean to someone else this week!

Disaster relief is getting a lot of attention right now but after several months it may receive little media coverage.  I’m going to try to remember to make a donation 6 months from now.  The problems will continue for a long time but people get “donor-fatigue” after a while and stop contributing.

Karen (Doug’s infamous tarantula-loving wife)

Free shipping is a great idea!

Chelicera—consider donating or becoming involved with Habitat for Humanity down the road.  They do good work building homes, and an item on the radio today said rebuilding in the Gulf region will be their priority for the coming year.  And it’s not just a church group—Habitat works with volunteers from all backgrounds, and builds for everyone.

This is the kind of long term project that’s going to need womanhours and donations for years, not just weeks.

BTW, if you do any home remodeling and have usable fixtures, sometimes Habitat can use that as well.  When we redid our bathroom they took the old sinks, cabinets and tub.  Much better than sending it to the landfill.

There’s a website I use that sends email reminders.  www.memotome.com You write your email and tell it when to deliver it, and it does the rest.  What if we all set up a memo to donate something six months from now?

If you want an address to send stuff to, here’s one:

Bent Pages Bookstore
JC Wilder/Lisa Hamilton
1422 Barrow St.
Houma, LA 70360

Please do not mark the outside of the packages as anything
noteworthy.

EC author J.C. Wilder aka Lisa Hamilton is in Houma, LA providing relief and it’s an area where the Red Cross and FEMA can’t get in. She’s distributing essentials to people in shelters.

I’m also raising money for her relief efforts by selling my latest book and donating the proceeds on my site, www.charleneteglia.com.

JC is an EC author. And Charli (Charlene) didn’t mention it but I don’t mind talking her up if she won’t! That 50k manuscript was meant for submission to Cerridwen and she has instead published it on her website. She is offering the e-book for $2 via paypal. All proceeds going to JC Wilder’s efforts down in Louisiana.

JC has invested ALL of her personal funds and credit in this endeavor, I hope you will check out Charli’s sale to help out. You get a book in return!

Details on my blog or click on the link to Charlene’s website in her comment.

Candy—JC is also published by LTDBooks, and LTDBooks is matching contributions by its authors to Hurricane Katrina Relief.  What some of us are doing is donating our royalties for the month of September, matched by our publisher for each book sold. LTDBooks is both an ebook and paper publisher, so if you’ve ever thought about getting an ebook or two, this is a good time to check us out.

Go to www.ltdbooks.com for more info.

There are several addresses to which to send books at the bottom of the following page:

http://www.itgirlsseries.com/hurricane.htm

Another thing you can do (if your company has stores along the Gulf Coast): encourage them, in the coming days, to take donations of paid vacation time to be distributed among employees in the affected areas who have no hope of getting a paycheck anytime soon.

Just want to remind everyone that animals stranded by Katrina also need your help.  If you are so inclined, you can contribute securely though the Human Society’s website

The LSU veterinary program is housing many, many animals and is desperate to foster them out.  They will transport the animals to you if you’ll just let them know what you can take.  Here’s a forward of the message the LSU put out (sorry for the formatting):

> From the LSU (Baton Rouge) Vet School:
>
> Transport Provided to Anywhere - Room Desperately
> Needed! (For the Animal Victims of Katrina)
> There is transportation provided, with people ready and
> waiting, for upwards of 200 dogs and 150 cats so far
> rescued from the devastation of hurricane Katrina. What
> these animals need is a place to go. Kennels, boarding,
> vets offices, shelters with any extra space, foster
> homes and rescues. Even one or two open kennels would
> greatly help.
>
> From what we know, all animals have been vaccinated and
> are in good health considering the conditions. There
> are dogs and cats of every breed and size. Some are in
> groups of two, three or four, hailing from the same
> family, while some are solitary. ANY KENNEL SPACE
> AVAILABLE CAN CERTAINLY BE USED. These drivers are
> willing to move these animals ANYWHERE they need to go.
> Absolutely anywhere.
>
> The current safe houses for these animals are being
> inundated and some of these pets will have to be
> euthanized if they are not moved to make room for the
> incoming animals.
>
> Please feel free to pass on this information
> everywhere. Every forum, every list, every community.
>
> REMEMBER THESE ANIMALS WILL BE TRANSPORTED TO YOU.
>
> If you know anyone, anywhere, that is willing to take
> in even one cat or dog, please have them contact Lynda
> at the information provided below.
>
> They are also asking for ANY kind of donations for the
> animals - money, food, bedding, water, etc.
>
> Please Contact Lynda V. at: 203 515 3024 (cell)
> Home: 203 227 5308
> Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
>
> Please contact at any time, day or night. These
> volunteers, rescuers and shelter workers are working
> around the clock.

As someone suggested earlier, we do need to verify these things.  You can check the LSU Veterinary School of Medicine site at http://www.vetmed.lsu.edu/  which says
“NOTE: Rumors that we have run out of room are NOT TRUE. We have plenty of space and are still accepting animals. We will remain in operation as long as necessary to reunite as many people and pets as possible.”  Also note that the contact area code on this forwarded e-mail is in Connecticut, not Louisiana. It might be worth looking into this closely to make sure it is truly the case, particularly the part about euthanizing.

Independence Air just flew a bunch of donations gratis to Baton Rouge, and have volunteered their services for that.

I think that’s cool. I sorta work for them.

I’ve been lurking for a while, devouring everything from the Covers Gone Wild! to Candy’s fabulous serial (The demons! The dildos!), but I wanted to say thank you for posting the Katrina relief information.  You guys made it really easy to help out, and I truly appreciate it.

And now, back to the dildos?

Evie