Donations to help with Katrina’s aftermath are being accepted at the local Red Cross chapter or by visiting www.sqvalleyredcross.org or www.redcross.org.
For information on how to help Mennonite Disaster Service, call 859-2210.
Other organizations are seeking cash donations to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina, but volunteers should not report directly to the affected areas unless directed by a voluntary agency.
Cash donations are especially helpful to the victims, federal officials said, and also allow agencies to avoid the labor-intensive need to store, sort, pack and distribute donated goods.
And as of today, just a little more than 48 hours after Katrina first pounded the Gulf Coast, a wide range of agencies are accepting donations from individuals who want to help.
Here’s a list of organizations that are planning to help, and where to donate:
_ The Salvation Army’s Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware Division is preparing to deploy response teams as early as this week to help with providing food, along with spiritual counseling in the disaster’s aftermath.
It has 300 trained disaster response volunteers at the ready.
For more information, call (800) SALARMY or visit www.salvationarmyusa.org.
_ The United Way here is accepting donations to support response efforts of United Way chapters in Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida.
Checks are being accepted at United Way of Lancaster County, 630 Janet Ave., Lancaster, PA, 17601. Checks should reference “United Way Hurricane Katrina Response Fund.”
For more on relief efforts at the local United Way, call 394-0731.
Other places to send financial donations include:
Operation Blessing, 1-800-436-6348.
America’s Second Harvest, 1-800-344-8070.
Adventist Community Services, 1-800-381-7171.
Catholic Charities USA, 703-549-1390.
Christian Disaster Response, 941-956-5183 or 941-551-9554.
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, 1-800-848-5818.
Church World Service, 1-800-297-1516.
Convoy of Hope, 417-823-8998.
Lutheran Disaster Response, 800-638-3522.
Nazarene Disaster Response, 888-256-5886.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, 800-872-3283.
Southern Baptist Convention, Disaster Relief, 1-800-462-8657, ext. 6440.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief, 1-800-554-8583.
Also, anyone interested can visit the Web site for the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) at www.nvoad.org.
Also, Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers from Lebanon County will be among those helping Katrina victims along the Gulf Coast in the coming weeks.
Six guardsmen packed up and headed out Tuesday from Fort Indiantown Gap, just north of Lancaster County.
The soldiers are part of a specialized communications unit and will set up a mobile command center for emergency crews in Mississippi, where they can provide phone, computer and radio lines.
The soldiers are prepared to work 24 hours a day for at least two weeks.
Mary Ellen Kennedy of Manheim Township was watching the TV news Tuesday night, recalling when the power was out at her Manheim Township home for several days last summer.
“It really hit me, how little (our trouble) was compared to what the people down there have to go through,” she said. “That’s just a blip compared to what they’re facing.”
http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/16723
I remember when 911 occurred, I got two precious e-mails from Germany and Norway, from my cousins. There were many people who signed them. That meant a lot to me. People do care. Governments? Hmmmm.