[Chevy454]

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Anyways, kudos to all that have sent support to the Red Cross and others. We donated to the Red Cross prior to SCR8, and are waiting to see who is most effective in the "recover and rebuild" phase and will send money then as well. If anyone finds an organization that seems to be really effective at getting people back on their feet, into homes, and on with their lives, post here or feel free to send me a PM.

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After delivering a load of stuff in our trailer yesterday, I had a chance to talk to a couple of the folks spearheading the effort in that area, and they explained that even the Red Cross has such an enormous amount of red tape that things move at a snail's pace...and this type of thing is old hat to the Red Cross. These folks have like 200+ refugees in a town of only 1800, and would've had more had the Red Cross "approved" one of the church's sanctuary...the Red Cross told them that since the bathroom wasn't directly adjacent to the sanctuary (it was down the hall) that they couldn't host any families...sounded a lot like a HUD inspection, not a relief effort. But anyway, they said the church decided to work *bypass* the Red Cross as the refugees just needed SOMEWHERE to go and having to walk down a hallway to a bathroom was their least concern. I was extremely pleased to hear that a couple of the farmers in the town had hired a couple of the refugees to help them get back on their feet, a trucking firm in the town was sending 10 of them to truck driving school, and all of the restraunts in town had agreed to hire as many folks as were willing to work...all from a town of 1800. Folks are pouring into all of the surrounding church camps here in our area, so the relief effort is gonna hit a lot closer to home than most people ever thought...

I'll withhold my thoughts on Michael Moore, as the focus needs to remain on those helping and those needing help...