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Katrina Relief Efforts - An update

SOME PARTS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN SATSANGS HURRICANE RELIEF UPDATES
9-25-05

ARIZONA

The Tucson Satsang is going to have a yard sale and a bake sale on Saturday, Oct. 1st to benefit the survivors. We also have two people from our satsang group that are working with Amritavarshini on the internet search to match missing people to their families. There has also been some positive response and therefore participation on the Circle of Love letter writing seva. A man from the Phoenix area responded to the Circle of Love letter writing and is participating as well as an adult and child from Tucson satsang. Chris Bentley who is the designated coordinator for the Katrina relief efforts has also begun the course for the Red Cross.
There are other satsang members who are interested and will be participating also.

ARKANSAS

Amrita Yoga Center’s Disaster Relief and Restoration Effort consists of 2 parts.

Phase 1 involves visiting Red Cross shelters and church-run campsites and assessing needs there and helping to walk evacuees through the process set up by the different agencies for getting funds, food stamps, housing, etc. Our major function is to provide them with emotional support, as these bureaucratic processes are difficult under normal circumstances, and more so after going through trauma. We also seek to provide services and funds not covered by the above agencies.
Phase 2 involves locating evacuees after they have obtained housing, and helping them obtain medical and mental health services, jobs, and household items, etc.

Some of the evacuees have symptoms of shell shock. They feel confused, isolated, powerless and skeptical that their real needs will be met. We help with being a friend to them and gaining their trust. Some have been moved from shelter to shelter, sometimes from one state to another. Some of the shelters are isolated at campsites that are far away from the city, increasing their sense of abandonment.

Over time, the emergency assistance that evacuees are receiving will be terminated. If evacuees are not supported over the long-term, some of the impoverished situations from which people came will be re-created. Tensions may then develop between local residents and the newer evacuee residents.

We are working with different organizations, i.e., Women’s Chamber of Commerce to come with programs to meet the education, jobs, and future needs of evacuees in Hot Springs.

CALIFORNIA BAY AREA SATSANGS

In the first week after hurricane Katrina, the Bay Area Satsangs collected donated new and used clothing, toiletries and toys for displaced families.
These donations were sent to the Delmont Service Center in Baton Rouge for distribution to shelters in that area.
We are developing an ongoing relationship with this center and will continue to support it in the future. This connection is being developed by various satsang members including devotees in Los Angeles and Louisiana.

The Fruitvale Elementary School in Oakland is holding a “day of relief” for survivors of Hurricane Katrina in the Bay Area. We are participating by collecting donations of new clothing, school supplies, gift cards and phone cards. All donations will be given to the families of the 53 displaced children who are now attending the school.

In response to Amma’s announced goal of raising One Million dollars, we are in the process of planning a concert as a fund raising event.

Some Bay Area devotees have traveled to the more affected areas to personally serve there. One devotee is in Selma, Alabama, volunteering at a trauma center for survivors. Two devotees are in Hot Springs, Arkansas, assisting at the Amrita Yoga Center. One devotee is in Houston working with the Red Cross to identify people who have not yet been reached by the Red Cross or other relief agencies.

Aikya is coordinating the Circle of Love letter writing project. At Mother’s Birthday Celebration on Saturday, the 24th, a table was set up in Amrita Hall and devotees wrote letters to survivors throughout the day.

Responding to Mother’s request, continuous Archanas were chanted for 3 days at the M. A. Center.

MISSOURI

The St. Louis Satsang worked tirelessly to help renovate an abandoned prison which had been planned to house a large number of hurricane survivors. They also collected a lot of in kind donations which are being distributed to survivors.

NEW YORK / NEW JERSEY

The New York and New Jersey satsangs have responded to Hurricane
Katrina by initiating projects to help the survivors directly and by
planning events to raise money for the relief efforts.

A New York devotee was moved to initiate a plus-size clothing drive,
upon discovering that some larger survivors had to resort to wearing
garbage bags in the Texas shelters, because of the lack of donated
clothing in their sizes. Clothes were collected at Amma's birthday
celebration and at satsang and were sent to those in need. In addition,
devotees in New York and New Jersey are gathering school supplies to
fill backpacks donated by satsang members. These will be sent to
children displaced by Hurricane Katrina who are starting school in
their new locations.

Also inspired by Amma's message in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, our
local satsangs have planned two benefit events. The New Jersey satsang is presenting a classical Odissi dance concert on October 2nd and the New York satsang will host a blues concert on November 11th. All funds raised from ticket sales and donations will go to Amma's Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

OKLAHOMA and KANSAS

The Oklahoma Satsang has been involved in a massive donation collection for families who were displaced as a result of hurricane Katrina and now live at Sunrise Apartments in Oklahoma City. The apartment owner opened 200 rent free apartments he was just finishing renovating to the Katrina survivors. Most all are from New Orleans. Many were at the Superdome.

Kaivalya and Randy, from the Wichita, Kansas group drove their huge 20 foot cattle trailer to OKC, with backpacks for youth filled with school supplies and other donations collected by the Wichita group. We filled it to the top (6 foot) tall with donations, from Edmond and Oklahoma City people.

We also filled 4 trucks and have a room full of probably 12 more pick-up trucks of men's and women's clothing to take to Sunrise Park Apartments. Young people met us as we arrived in the truck pulling the long cattle trailer at the apartments. The cattle trailer was a big hit! After emptying it Kaivalya hopped in the back with about 20 youth and their cowherd dog Gopi, and Randy gave them a ride for a couple of blocks up to the laundry room to drop off more toiletries and supplies. They looked like the pied piper with youth showing up all along the way wanting to ride. Some kids asked, "Do we have to pay to ride?" It was better than an amusement park! We were so tired and their joy totally restored us! All of the youth who live there will go to Crooked Oak School.

The Superintendent of this small very poor independent school district met us and opened his doors at the board of education for us to drop off all the back packs and school supplies. He and his family had been at the apartments mowing and helping all day, as was his board president who was helping receive donations at the apartments. The complex has a head start and nice laundry facility and lots of open spaces for children to explore and play in. We are very impressed with Crooked Oak School Districts response. They are an independent school district that serves a poor area and they are very service oriented.

Camp Gruber in Muskogee, Oklahoma has received 2,000+ evacuees from the superdome in Louisiana.

In kind donations are being collected by a joint grass roots effort of several groups in Oklahoma City and Amma's Edmond and Wichita Satsangs. Kaivalya and Randy, from Wichita, will be driving their truck and trailer full of clothing and toys to Camp Gruber. The displaced people at Camp Gruber are from New Orleans. The people who will be driving and caravanning to the camp are P.A.'s, R.N.'s, family counselors and people skilled with working with youth, grief and trauma.

We are coordinating plans to play some nature games, teach the children some dances and songs and be a listening presence while we are at the camp. We are assembling children's back packs with craft activities, books, toys etc.

TEXAS

Prana got Red Cross certified to work in the shelters. They desperately need volunteers and the training session goes by quickly. This Saturday, a group of satsang members are planning on getting certified. We will also be meeting to see about "adopting" a certain number of evacuees and trying to help them as much as possible. This is what local area churches are doing -- They are taking on X number of families and attending to most if not all of their needs, rides, resumes, school supplies, interview tips, etc.

As hurricane Rita approached, the cities of Galveston, Houston &
Beaumont evacuated hundreds of thousands of people. Hwy 45 was filled with cars as weary travelers couldn't move forward or backwards and the 4.5 hour trip became anywhere from a 15 to 24 hour trip. Satsang devotees opened up their homes to evacuees.

While awaiting Rita's arrival, the satsang continued its efforts towards Katrina Relief. Working with a community center in Garland that was serving as a temporary shelter for hurricane victims, the satsang provided Toys, books, games, & balls for the children. Upon discovering the further needs of the shelter residents, towels, plates, cups, bowls, personal hygiene items, medicines (tylenol, advil, maalox, etc.), diapers, can openers, and cooking utensils were acquired and distributed. Evacuees are also needing transportation to and from job interviews, the store, etc and so devotees have stepped up to make use of this opportunity to serve and interact more intimately with the evacuees.

The idea was also brought up that each week's satsang would have a "theme" - one week we'd have a diaper drive, the next week- pots & pans, the next bed sheets, etc. depending on the needs of the evacuees as they move out of the shelter into area apartments and homes.

The satsang has found that in working with a small shelter there is more of an opportunity to actively interact and get to know the evacuees. Several Dallas area school districts have taken on Katrina students.

As the satsang members learn about the needs of the students in their area, we are individually attending to those needs as best as possible.

A Short Report from Dallas satsang on the Rita Hurricane Disaster

MORE UPDATES ON THE WAY...

Disaster Relief