9/1/05 Hurricane Katrina Resources

I just spoke with my friend, Robert Cooke, from the Rachel Alert Network (RAN) in Austin, Texas. He told me that the Search and Rescue (SAR) teams from Texas have been activated. (I am sure they have been in other states, too.) These teams are tasked with aiding law enforcement in the search for persons missing because of Hurricane Katrina.

Project Jason is not a SAR organization, so we will not be actively working towards this end. We will, however, be glad to provide resources as per our mission statement.

Robert has a list of organizations who are out there in the front lines and need our help and donations. I will post it here, along with another list of sites on the Internet where information about persons missing because of this disaster are published.

Phone numbers set up solely for cash donations and/or volunteers to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina:

American Red Cross: 800-HELP NOW
Catholic Charities: 703-549-1390
Operation Blessing: 800-436-6348
America's Second Harvest: 800-344-8070
Adventist Community Services: 800-381-7171
Christian Disaster Response: 941-956-5183 or 941-551-9554
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee: 800-848-5818
Church World Service: 800-297-1516
Convoy of Hope: 417-823-8998
Lutheran Disaster Response: 800-638-3522
Mennonite Disaster Service: 717-859-2210
Nazarene Disaster Response: 888-256-5886
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance: 800-872-3283
Salvation Army: 800-SAL-ARMY
Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief: 800-462-8657 ext. 6440
United Methodist Committee on Relief: 800-554-8583

To donate money: (Specify donations for victims of Hurricane Katrina)

* American Red Cross, 1-800-435-7669, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013. On the Web at http://www.redcross.org/
* Catholic Charities USA, 1-800-919-9338, Hurricane Katrina, PO Box 25168, Alexandria, VA 22313-9788. On the Web at http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/
* Christian Contractors Association, 1-800-278-7703, 2009 South Broad St., Brooksville, FL 34604. On the Web at www.ccaministry.org
* Church World Service, 1-800-297-1516, P.O Box 968, Elkhart, IN, 46515. On the Web at http://www.churchworldservice.org/
* Convoy of Hope, 1-800-988-0664 or 417 823-8998, 330 S Patterson, Springfield, MO 65802. On the Web at http://www.convoyofhope.org/
* Emergency Animal Rescue Services the disaster rescue program of United Animal Nations, (916) 429-2457, PO Box 188890, Sacramento, CA 95818. On the Web at http://www.uan.org/
* Episcopal Relief and Development/U.S. Hurricane Relief Fund, 1-800-334-7626, ext. 5129, PO Box 12043, Newark, NJ, 07101-5043. On the Web at http://www.er-d.org/
* Florida Baptist Convention, 1-800-226-8584, Att. Baptist Men's Department, Hurricane Disaster Relief, 1230 Hendricks Ave., Jacksonville, FL 32207.
* Florida Conference United Church of Christ, (407) 835-7501, 924 N Magnolia Ave., Suite 250, Orlando, FL 32803.
* Lutheran Disaster Response, 1-800-638-3522, 8765 W Higgins Road, Chicago, IL 60631. On the Web at http://www.elca.org/
* Mennonite Disaster Service, 717 859-2210, 1018 Main St. Akron, PA 17501. On the Web at http://www.mds.mennonite.net/
* Presbyterian Church, 1-800-872-3283, Att. PCUSA, Individual Remittance Processing, P.O. Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15624-3700. Write on check: #000169. On the Web at http://www.pcusa.org/
* Salvation Army, 1-800-725-2769, Salvation Army Headquarters, PO Box 269, Alexandria, VA 22313 with a note "Katrina Disaster relief." On the Web at http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/
* Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, 770 410-6133, PO Box 116543, Atlanta, GA 30368. On the Web at www.namb.net/dr Make checks payable to: NAMB.
* United Methodist Committee on Relief, 1-800-554-8583, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Use advance #982410. On the web at http://www.umcor.org/
* United Way,Tampa Bay 813 274-0900 or (727) 535-3545, or check the Web at http://www.uwtb.org/ Or donate at any SunTrust bank branch http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/29/S...w_to_help.shtml

Internet Sites for seeking missing loved ones:

NCMEC: http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2077
American Red Cross: http://www.familylinks.icrc.org/katrina/locate
NVFC: http://www.nvfc.us/Katrina/
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/hurricanes/list/
Craigslist: New Orleans Lost & Found http://neworleans.craigslist.org/laf/
Nola.com's forums http://www.nola.com/
WWL-TV's forums http://www.wwltv.com/forums/
WDSU-TV's message board http://www.wdsu.com/news/4919183/detail.html
National Next of Kin Registry: http://www.nokr.org/nok/restricted/home.htm
Hurricane Katrina Survivors http://www.hurricanekatrinasurvivors.com/main/
N.O. Pundit bulletin boards http://www.nopundit.com/bb/
Now Public's missing persons board http://www.nowpublic.com/node/17228
Salvation Army information request form http://qso.com/satern/emailfrm.htm
Slidell Hurricane Damage Blog http://slidell.weblogswork.com/
U.S. Next of Kin Registry https://disasterhelp.gov/portal/jhtml/index.jhtml
Hurricane Katrina message boards http://boards.news.yahoo.com/boards/
Katrina Family and Friends http://katrinafamiliesandfriends.com/PHPbb2/index.php
The Sun Herald "Reach loved ones" http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/
The Weather Channel message boards http://messageboards.weather.com/3/...764&f=457105398
Pearl River County Katrina survivorshttp://picayunekatrina.blogspot.com/
Hurricane Katrina Survivors http://www.hurricanekatrinasurvivors.com/main/
GCN Survivor-Connector DataBase (alt1) (alt2)http://216.25.101.57/katrina/status.aspx
Hurricane Katrina Connection http://survivedkatrina.proboards54.com/index.cgi
Pensacola News Journal forums http://community.pensacolanewsjourn...n/yabb/YaBB.cgi

To see Robert Cooke's organization, RAN, and read the story of his missing daughter, Rachel, please see http://rachelalert.org/