The state of Texas has taken in some number of Katrina refugees; I've read the figure 230,000 and heard the figure 250,000, so it's somewhere in that neighborhood.
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 4000 people were flown into Austin Friday September 2, triaged at the airport and those who didn't need to go to the hospital immediately (200-250) were taken to a shelter. The last figure for the population of the shelter I heard was 1900 -- people are being reunited with family members (I've got a nice story about two such people) or finding other places to live, some with folks in the area willing to open their doors to them, others actually finding apartments or houses to rent. (Most of the teachers who ended up at the shelter have been hired to teach in the area. Which is helpful, because about 500 school-age children were brought there, as well, and are being enrolled in schools around the city, along with other school-age children not part of that particular evacuation.) I think the total number of Katrina refugees in the greater Austin area is somewhere between 12,000 and 20,000. (The area could handle more, I'm sure.) The city has been innundated with donations from its citizens and the citizens of the surrounding area; they stopped accepting donations for awhile so they could finish sorting what they already had. At this point, the city is only accepting luggage and backpacks. There are other organizations that could use help in helping refugees. KatrinaHelpAustin.org is still asking for some material needs. A list is up at http://www.katrinahelpaustin.org/content.aspx?CID=16 and stuff may be sent to Katrina Help Head Quarters 2408 South 3rd Street Austin, Texas 78704 They are NOT accepting any cash donations, but will gladly take gas cards, phone cards and grocery cards. (The grocery stores in the area are HEB, Albertson's and Randall's; there are also a couple of Whole Foods stores in the area, but those may not be the most convenient places to shop.) If you want to send money to the Austin area, I would recommend: Capital Area Food Bank http://www.austinfoodbank.org/ Mailing address AND a link for donating cash online are there. or Round Rock Area Serving Center http://www.servingcenter.org/ (this is where I would go if I needed help from a food bank, and there are a number of Katrina refugees taking up residence in the Round Rock area -- I heard more pleas on the radio today from Round Rock than from Austin for food bank help. One minus is that they don't have a link for donating cash on-line. They DO get some stuff from the CAFB, so sending money to CAFB will help them some.) This is just the stuff I know about. But I know they could use help in helping the folks from Louisiana. Finally, I'll share the cartoon printed in today's Statsman that really moved me: http://www.nola.com/news/kelley/index.ssf/09-07-2005?2005/09072005_toon.jpg (Yes, I know that's not the Statesman's site -- they just reprinted the cartoon. And I am *so* glad they did!) Julia _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
