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The following is a status report on the Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita Disaster Relief Project.
Zonta International and District 10 have a prominent
place in the disaster relief efforts, due in part to the
care, concern and generosity of our Zonta sisters around
the world, but also due to Past Governor Carol Rainey's
efforts. (Carol is now a member of District 9). Carol
put out a call to her fellow Weekenders clothing line
representatives which has resulted in hundreds of
cartons of new and nearly new samples and other clothing
and supplies.
These people have further increased the circle of
donors by incorporating our "Zonta message" into their
networks. We are now receiving from other organizations
like Soroptomist, as well as clothing and lingerie
manufacturers. Zonta has become an often repeated word
right here in North America.
The donors are from Alaska, Canada, New York, Florida,
California and all points in between.
The
Zonta Club of Lafayette is facilitating the sorting and
distribution of this effort. We are enjoying seeing all
the packages arriving addressed to "Zonta District 10 -
Hurricane Relief".
Each donor receives an information letter and receipt,
both which contain information about Zonta International
and include all the website addresses.
I have personally received hundreds of emails and phone
calls, some of which specifically ask about Zonta and
its activities. Zonta is being praised for our efforts
in helping women, who are the central force of most
families in southern Louisiana.
We have expanded our distribution east to Gulfport,
Mississippi and west to Lake Charles, Louisiana. Our
New Orleans Zontians and their families have received
care packages.
Club members throughout District 10 have opened their
homes and their hearts. Several have taken families
into their homes, especially the elder ones who need
care.
Our District 10 foundation has benefited from the
generosity of many. A special committee has been formed
who will review grant applications and make their
recommendations to the district 10 foundation board.
The reconstruction and re-settlement of New Orleans,
its surrounding suburbs, Lake Charles and the areas
south and west, will take an enormous amount of faith,
energy, money and time. While most people respond
immediately with monetary donations for relief
assistance and we are to be grateful for that, what we
must remember is that any commitment to this disaster
relief effort should be a long term one.
The immediate needs of shelter, food, clothing and
medical care are being filled, but the holidays are just
around the corner. Even with all the government
assistance available, I suspect that many children will
not have fun Halloweens, bountiful Thanksgivings or very
merry Christmases. Most of the mothers in the
matriarchal society of the south are sole providers and
we must rally around them so that they can keep their
families whole.
These children will need an ongoing supply of school
items, including clothing, shoes and computers. Those
returning to their home towns may be without libraries.
Their mothers will need nurturing and emotional
support, and opportunities for jobs. Their fathers need
to know that they are not alone in their efforts to
rebuild their homes, lives, jobs and businesses. We
cannot forget them, even though time is passing.
The support of our sister Zontians, friends and
families is powerful and we can, and will, be effective
in Zonta's effort to improve the status of women in
Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama who have been
affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Our
Zonta International District 10 Foundation, a 501(c) (3)
IRS approved entity, is ready to accept your donations
for relief for all the citizens in Louisiana,
Mississippi and Alabama affected by Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita. A special committee has been appointed to
review the requests for financial assistance following
established guidelines. This committee will make their
recommendations to the Zonta International District 10
Foundation Board who will approve the payments before
they are issued. An accounting of the activities of this
special Disaster Relief Account will be made available
as requested.
All checks should be made payable to Zonta District 10
Foundation, with a notation of "Disaster Relief" and may
be mailed to District 10 Treasurer Sharon Graves, SL 50
Lake Cherokee, Henderson, TX 75652. Following are the
wire instructions:
U S BANK
800 NICOLLET AVE
MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55402
ABA # 091 00 022
ACCOUNT NAME: RBC DAIN RAUSCHER INCORPORATED
ACCOUNT # 1 602 3009 7208
FURTHER CREDIT ZONTA INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT 10
FOUNDATION
ACCOUNT # 1101-7532-9409
FOR INCOMING INTERNATIONAL WIRE TRANSFERS INCLUDE THE
SWIFT CODE FOR US BANK (USBKUS44IMT)
Please
note that we cannot accept non-US dollars; the funds
must be converted.
With many thanks for your concern, kindness and
generosity,
Maggie
Warren
Zonta International District 10 Governor
News
from District 10 Clubs and "Down Under"
From
the Zonta Club of Weatherford
We have only about 300 evacuees here in Weatherford at
this time, but we are enrolling a few children every
week. Donna Allen is the school district's liaison and
has been working herself to death. We currently have 43
children from Pre-K through high school that are
evacuees. We have been concentrating on getting the
families into housing that were brought into the
campground. Tomorrow our adult ed program will have a
booth at a resource and health fair and the families
will be able to visit with potential employers, schools,
counselors, health agencies that may be able to address
specific needs, etc. We know some of them need adult
education and we will be trying to reach those. We have
had some inquiries on classes but maybe this will give
us specifics on where the classes need to be held, etc.
Until we know their needs we can only guess how we can
help.
From
the Zonta Club of Austin
I have been helping nearly every day either at the
Austin Convention Center, American Red Cross doing case
management, elderly case management, housing, etc. Also
doing the 8 to 1 pm case management and 4 pm to midnight
at the convention center. I have not asked to take
pictures. Have assisted from very young to elderly. It
has been a great experience to work with such
appreciative people that have either lost all or partly.
Margarine G. Beaman, Austin
From
the Zonta Club of Houston
We have decided not to do any specific project as a club
at this time - we know that the groups that we normally
support are helping and have significant extras burden
supporting evacuees and that they will need special
efforts from us in the future when time and $'s drop
off. A number of members have volunteered in their
area/neighborhood evacuee shelters or at the main sites.
Many have contributed $'s. Club members have met
Shalome Jenkins (from New Orleans) and are providing
some money and clothing/personal items for her and
family. I have emailed Rebecca Altobelli (from New
Orleans) at Chevron but not heard back yet. Does anyone
have a phone number? We hope to get both to our meeting
next week.
From
the Zonta Club of Longview
Our club has not jumped on the band wagon yet, but our
convention center is hosting several hundred families,
and our Vice President Renee Hawkins, who is Director of
the Longview Museum of Fine Art, hosted a party for the
children at MCAC and they had snacks, games and arts and
crafts. There may be something on their website (which
Judy Johnston does) -
www.LMFA.org,
or there may be articles on the local newspaper website,
www.news-journal.com.
A number of churches and service organizations are
volunteering with the evacuees.
From the Zonta Club of Corpus Christi
The Zonta Club of Corpus Christi has provided clothes,
toiletries and pet food directly to residents of New
Orleans within 4 days of hurricane. We continue to
provide canned goods, water and other assistance to
workers of the Valero and Mobil refineries. We consider
this a project to be continued as long as need exists.
Some of our members have also visited and assisted in
the shelters and nursing home for evacuees in Corpus
Christi.
From
the Zonta Club of Lafayette
Our members have assisted with and loaned beds and other
furniture for evacuees through Holy Cross Catholic
Church; donated clothing, funds and linens to Goodwill,
Holy Cross Catholic Church and St. Edmond's Church;
donated books and visited with evacuees at area hotels;
volunteered at the CajunDome Evacuee Center; cooked and
served food to evacuees at hotels; received, sorted and
distributed clothing, food, supplies and personal items
to area evacuees from the New Orleans area, Gulfport,
Mississippi, Abbeville, Erath, Cameron, Lake Charles,
Louisiana and Port Arthur, Texas.
We have received gift cards for school supplies that
have been distributed directly to school counselors.
We have also received 1500 pounds of bras and over 500
pounds of new ladies lingerie that is being distributed
on a daily basis.
And, we have helped to place musical instruments that
were donated by a musician from the West Coast.
From
District 24 Governor Ros Kinder: ("Down Under") in
Australia
Hi Maggie
Thought you would be interested in this - it was sent to
me from a Zontian living in Canberra - not sure where
she picked it up from - but you have made the stories
"down under".
I do hope that things are settling down over there -
the hurricane is still on the news here most nights - it
is so hard to believe some of the stories and the
slowness of the authorities to respond - mind you I am
not sure how our authorities would react in such a
situation.
I haven't checked the updates on your website in recent
days but again hope that our Zontian sisters over there
can rebuild their lives fairly speedily and it is not
too heartbreaking when they are allowed to return to
their homes.
Best wishes and thinking of you
Ros
Subject:
Another Zonta story about Katrina
PLEASANTON - Carol DiSalvi's heart went out to the
people suffering from the devastating effects of
Hurricane Katrina. Just like most, she was concerned
about the lack of food, shelter and water for the
hundreds of thousands of people affected.
Knowing that man, and woman, does not live by bread
alone, DiSalvi felt bad about something else, too. "I
was watching these poor ladies, and they didn't have
anything," said DiSalvi. "I thought, if someone handed
these women a used bra, they'd have to take it. They
don't have anything else. I just thought that was sad.
That's an intimate item."
DiSalvi realized she could provide a personal touch to
what, for many, has become a large-scale, mass-quantity
relief effort. As owner of Lily Ann's in downtown
Pleasanton, DeSalvi had a fair amount of overstock and
"for sale" items she knew she could part with. By the
end of it all, she had packaged up a 45-pound box with
more than $11,000 worth of lingerie in it. It was ready
Friday to be mailed to a Louisiana-based relief
provider. "There's everything in there -- bras,
panties, thongs, sleepwear, everything," DiSalvi said.
"When I watched television, I noticed a lot of the
ladies appeared to be large-busted ladies. We specialize
in large-busted women, so it was perfect."
DiSalvi didn't stop there. She also reached out to her
network of other lingerie retailers, manufacturers and
suppliers to send anything they could. DiSalvi said so
far she has received more than 60 e-mails from others in
the industry saying they're going to do the same.
"It's a phenomenal thing," said Maggie Warren, governor
of the Lafayette, La., district of Zonta, a nonprofit
group for women that is receiving and distributing
DiSalvi's shipment. "I can't imagine the Red Cross would
even accept it, but it's really going to help a lot of
people."
DiSalvi, in fact, did call the Salvation Army and
Goodwill, but neither group was willing to take her
offerings. That's when a client suggested the Zonta
group, and DiSalvi contacted Warren.
Warren said that over the past week Zonta had received some
undergarments from stores in Florida and New York. "I
just didn't want to think of the feeling of waking up in
the morning and having to put on an old bra," said
DiSalvi, whose box included more than 100 bras in sizes
from 32A to 50I. "I'm just happy we got such a wonderful
response back and were able to do something."
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