Hurricane Victims Food Drive

[Zoalander]

Hey guys, I'm sure evryone has seen what damage hurricane Katrina has done in the south. I'm heading a food drive at my Hospital (Northwest Community Hospital) and I want to ask everyone here if they are willing to donate closed food items canned,boxed, etc. Also everyday items like tooth paste and shampoo are needed. Give as little or as much as you can. I'm not collecting money just items. The food will be going to America's Second Harvest in St.Charles. Please let
your friends know and ask them if they can help. We are helping American people not some 3rd world country who might not appreciate what we are doing. I'm going to try and find a LFS that might be willing to act as a drop off post so I can pick everything up in one trip. I'm going to be delivering by Tuesday so I will give you guys further information once I find a LFS that would be kind enough to help out and I will set-up a pick up date so the food won't get in the way of their business. If any of you have any questions please send me a message. Thanks.

[Zoalander]

Dave from Ocean's Floor said that you guys can drop off the food goods at his store at anytime. I will be picking up from his place Sunday evening. I just talked to the director at America's Second Harvest and she told me that they are in dire need of bottled water, espacailly the single serve bottles.
the address is

1510 Industrial Drive, Unit A
Lake in the Hills, IL 60156

I'm begging everyone to help. Not all the stuff donated will be going for the hurricane relief because there is a list with specific items they need like the bottles of water. What ever isn't sent there will be going to someone that needs food anyways. I'm begging you guys to help out, the food and water you donate will feed someone that doesn't have the luxury of knowing what for dinner. Thanks.

[oach]

I wish you were closer as I would be donating some extra goods we have. Fortunately my place of employment will match any financial donation that I make to red cross, so I will be helping out in that fashion.

I agree that everyone needs to do their part to help out. The devistation to parts of the south is horrifying!

[Zoalander]

Yeah everyone does need to help out. Even my local Fantasy Football League is collecting items.

[ozzman]

DON'T donate goods at this time. I saw several reports this morning on foxnews, cnn, abc, etc saying that money is a much better donation at this time. The infrastructure just is not there to get the goods where they are needed to go yet.

[Zoalander]

America's Second Harvest told me that the food and water will get to the hurricane victims. Ofcourse money is better but I'm collecting food and water. There is no time to be sitting on our thumbs, we need to gather the food and water so when it can be transported to them they are there. Why in Gods name would you say not to donate goods? I'm dropping the stuff off on Tuesday morning because their trucks are leaving by 3:30 pm. The food isn't just going to the areas that are destroyed but to all the relocation centers that are set up to house all the survivors.

[slave-of-rock]

I will stop in there either 2marrow or on saturday. I will buy a case or 2 of water for the cause 2marrow, gl with collections!
-Kyle Kaz

[cilantro72]

I am sure that donations of goods will be put to good use, but if the donation is made through Red Cross that use is likely to be in our community rather than in LA or MS. Of course, other charaties may differ...

From the American Red Cross website:
When a disaster of the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina strikes and the news broadcasts images of broken, battered and destroyed homes, it is natural for the public to be eager to help their neighbors – whether they’re across town or across the country. Often, seeing that they have lost everything, people are eager to donate food, clothing or other goods to meet the needs of storm victims and help the affected families begin to replace what they have lost. "While that generous spirit is truly appreciated, the American Red Cross cannot accept this type of donation for the victims it is serving," said Amanda Lepof, an American Red Cross In-Kind Officer.

and

Why does the Red Cross discourage donations of collected goods and individual items for disaster relief?


Collections of items require valuable and scarce resources such as time, money, and personnel to sort, clean, and distribute them, which come at the expense of the emergency activities relief workers are attempting to perform. The Red Cross has neither the resources, nor the logistical set-up, to properly handle these types of donations, and therefore cannot accept them.
In addition, because the organization has no way of knowing what spontaneous individual donations or unsolicited collections of items will consist of, and therefore cannot ensure there will be enough of a particular item to distribute it equitably, or if the donated products will even be appropriate for the relief effort.
Shipping donated goods is also costly and particularly difficult in the aftermath of a disaster, as roads are often damaged or impassable, and easily clogged with shipments of non-priority items. The Red Cross makes every attempt to procure items locally to save money by minimizing transportation and storage costs.

[Zoalander]

Thats's a reason why I didn't go with Red Cross. America's Second Harvest (I encourage you guys to check out their website) is one of the few companies that does take in food items. I just saw the commercail on Fox news and they were talking about how you can help and they showed a youth baseball team loading up a truck with bottled water. Not all the items will be going to help the hurricane victims because I was told that they have a priority list for those victims. The rest of the stuff will be distributed to other needy people. To discourage people from donating food is just mind boggling to me.

Thanks Kyle.
I'm spending my coral allowance money on bottled water.

[slave-of-rock]

I just talked to my dad, he also will be donating some things.

[beester15]

hello everyone,
If you would like to help the best thing to do is to go to the fema.gov web site and there are a bunch of charitable organizations that are gov. certified there. Things are not pretty and the gov. is getting a bad wrap for this one, but I can tell you this....EVERYONE that I work with is waiting and ready to answer the call. I will be doing my part as well.....I just wonder how much help we will be receiving from other countries.(considering we sent a LOT of help over there).

[Zoalander]

You have to understand why people are upset with FEMA. It seems like everytime there is a crisis over seas the next day we have aid for them. There are 20,000 people at the Lousiana Convention center with no food or water and 7 corpses.

[slave-of-rock]

What time will you be going to ocenas floor on Sun to pick up the goods? I think it would be nice to put a face to the name.

[cilantro72]

I dont think that anyone is discouraging donations of any kind, we are just saying that the organizations themselves are asking for money rather than food.

For instance, this America's Second Harvest press release states "Fundraising activities are recommended over food drives because of the logistical challenges of sorting, shipping and distributing collected items."

That being said, I am sure the food that is collected will go to good use as well.

[Zoalander]

I will be their around 5 pm to pick-up the items. When I talked to Shannon from America's Second Harvest she told me that not everything will be sent for the hurricane relief. She said that some of it will and other won't. Bottled water will defenitley go there and they have already sent many items and will use what we bring in to replenish their supply. It is very easy to donate money but some people may not be able to afford a $20 donation but can give a few packs of bottled water. I just like to help with items because I know they will fill someones stomach, with cash you can't be 100% sure. Regardless if you want to doante money please do, I started this thread for food and water donations. If you don't think it is a good idea to donate food please keep it to yourself.

[beester15]

Well imagine the chaos/stampeeding that would happen if food and water was just dropped on site at the superdome. This event is nobody's fault and the response is happening as quick as possible. No form of public government is going to put their first responders at risk when the people you are trying to save are shooting at you. It is a bad situation all around.