Blacks Generously Giving Time And Money To Assist Katrina Victims

By Hazel Trice EdneyNNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – H. B. Smith, a hairstylist for nearly 40 years, knows the smile of confidence and self-esteem on the face of a woman with a new hairdo. “You know, a lady just getting her hair fixed, it just makes you feel better,” says the owner of the Bell Star Beauty Bar in Houston. When Smith saw hundreds of female victims of Hurricane Katrina living in the Houston Astrodome, she said the least she could do was to brighten their day a little by giving them fresh hairstyles. She went to work beside other hairstylists who also volunteered their services. Before she finished, she had blow dried, hot-curled, gel waved or twisted 15 hairdos within six hours. “I didn’t even take a break to go to the bathroom the whole time. One girl waiting in line did go and get me some bottled water,” Smith chuckles. “I just wanted to just give something because they have lost so much and I just thought a hairdo would make some of them feel better. But it made me feel better than them.” Smith’s action is only one example of thousands of extraordinary deeds being done around the nation this week – and perhaps for months and years to come – for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. From coast to coast, the giving of money, goods and talents have far surpassed the giving within the first 10 days after Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the Dec. 26 Tsunami put together. The monetary donations to official relief agencies had surpassed $500 million early last week. Volunteerism, and the donation of goods and services are also tipping the scales. According to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center For the People & the Press, Blacks are twice as likely as Whites to know people directly affected by Hurricane Katrina. Consequently, Black giving and volunteering at an unprecedented rate, according to donor organizations. Stanley Monts and Karen Hoover, business partners in Richmond, Va.. decided to make their four-bedroom house available for a 12-member extended family from New Orleans for as long as they need it. “The family was such a lovely family,” says Hoover. “What I did was very easy. I called the real estate office and told them to take it off the market.” They then galvanized their friends who came through with all sorts of other donations to make the family comfortable and at home. “It was a team effort,” says Hoover. There are five children in the family, all between the ages of 3 and 10. “And they came along with three dogs, two rabbits and a turtle.” Hoover and Mont have also promised housing for a second family of five from Slidell, La. Hoover says she will allow that family to share her home. Official agencies such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, Christian Charities and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are available for donations to the hurricane victims. Multiple funds have been set up by a string of agencies and organizations for hurricane relief. But many people are opting to put money and other tangible items directly into the hands of those in need. At the D. C. National Guard Armory, where approximately 300 evacuees from New Orleans are being sheltered, some volunteers drive up to the curb and drop off items. “I’ve got Pampers and baby food! They’re free for whoever needs them,” shouted one young woman toward a small crowd of hurricane victims milling about in front of the Armory last week. Red cross volunteers, wearing white and gray aprons with big red crosses, follow strict rules not to allow random visitors inside the Armory in order to protect the privacy of victims. However, they say people can engage in direct giving as much as they want outside. Also, Red Cross volunteers are restricted from taking random food, clothing and other items inside the shelter for distribution. Such items must be donated through the Salvation Army, other relief agencies or directly, volunteers say, unless they are given directly to those in need. Some givers prefer it that way. “I want to give, but I don’t want my giving to get tied up in the process,” says Rubina Carter. She and JoAnn Mackey, fellow members of Blacks in Government (BIG), showed up outside the Armory and started making lists of individual needs. BIG had held a hurricane benefit bake sale and raised more than $1,000. Carter says they will give some people money and others tangible items. “We decided on our own. We saw people. We got their names and a list of what they need,” she says. Despite the charitable spirit, the Federal Emergency Management Agency cautions against potential abuse. “As flood waters recede, opportunities for scam artists rise,” says a statement released by the agency. “The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), cautions those affected by Hurricane Katrina to be extra cautious in dealing with anyone who calls or comes to the door seeking work, information or money.” But some real victims welcome the direct giving. “I appreciate all of this. I’ve never been this blessed,” says Melvin Taylor, 53, a life-long resident of New Orleans. Taylor took his first plane ride fleeing the now devastated city. Delta Airlines sponsored transportation for the New Orleans flood victims to D. C. The BIG representatives promised to return to give the blue jean and T-shirt-clad Taylor a hat, a pullover sweater and a cell phone. “If I got one of those phones, would I have to pay the bill?” Taylor asks. “No,” Carter answers. “It’s a prepaid phone.” Taylor responds pensively, looking into the distance, “Now I can call my people.” Though stories of joyful reunions abound, many lost loved ones are still being sought. Meanwhile, volunteers inside the shelters have chosen to sacrifice their daily routines to make victims as comfortable as possible, especially after it took four days for a National Guard Convoy to bring the first food and water relief to hurricane victims stranded in the New Orleans convention center where thousands had hovered for safety. “I was really messed up to see how long it took the government to help out,” says 23-year-old Kevin Hardy, a bartender spending his second evening serving food at the D.C. Armory. “I felt like I needed to help. I really don’t do too much of anything anyway, so why not? Why not come on down and help a little bit?” Still others are giving from their best goods to church and other organizational drives. “Stuff that I wanted to hold on to, I gave away, like leather coats, bags of clothes that I only wore last year,” says Joii King. “I said, ‘Lord I am so selfish.’ I just had to say, ‘Give it up, Give it away’…I wouldn’t give anybody hand me downs. I only gave something that I would wear.” Some are helping from afar. The Rev. Lloyd T. McGriff and his 3,000-member congregation of the Galilee Baptist Church, in Suitland, Md. and southeast D. C. not only raised $20,000 to give through a relief fund, but adopted two churches in Louisiana, helping members and other survivors with tangible items, such as food, clothing and baby needs. The two churches are the Second Baptist Church in Blaquemine, La. and Union Baptist in New Orleans. “One of the first inquiries will be how has the African-American churches responded,” says McGriff. “This is a part of who we should be. It’s a part of our mission – to help the least, the lost and the left out.” Even with thousands of volunteers, the Red Cross says it still needs more who are willing to be deployed to its disaster relief shelters in 16 states around the nation. For information, prospective volunteers or givers may go to www.RedCross.org or call 1-800-HELP-NOW. In addition, many organizations, including the National Newspaper Publishers Association are establishing relief funds to assist the displaced. )To contribute to the NNPA effort, send contributions to “NNPA Relief Fund at Citizens Trust Bank, 75 Piedmont Ave., NE Atlanta. Ga. 30303) “It’s so heart-warming to see this family assimilating into the community and to see the outpouring from people you don’t even know,” says Monts. “People are donating beds with brand new mattresses and box springs and the linens that they need. This has been…This is just amazing.”