Hurricane Katrina Disaster Response

September 23, 2005

September 8, 2005

To: The Rensselaer Community
From: Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D., President

An update on Hurricane Katrina relief efforts

I am writing to bring you up to date on campus efforts to support students and universities affected by the devastation in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast.

First and foremost, I want to thank the Rensselaer community. Extraordinary events call for extraordinary responses, and the faculty, staff, and students of Rensselaer have stepped up in an extraordinary way. As part of the Gulf Coast Visiting Scholars program, you have been responding to inquires, working with dozens of students and parents, assessing credentials and advising students, offering transportation, and making myriad arrangements, large and small. Many of you gave up your holiday weekend. Some opened your homes, and all have opened your hearts, to these students.

We announced the Gulf Coast Visiting Students program last Friday. Over the weekend and through this week, we have received 180 inquiries. As of this writing, we have admitted 62 students who are either on campus or on their way here; another 16 are pending our decision. We are approaching capacity.

Gulf Coast Visiting Students have been admitted on a non-matriculated basis, and it is our expectation that they will return to their home institutions after the fall semester. We have accepted students into all five schools, which are evaluating credentials and fall semester plans. We expect all students to begin coursework as soon as possible, and more than 35 already are attending classes.

We are pleased that we can help these students continue their education. They, as our own students, represent the future. We are committed to their success.

In other hurricane relief efforts, a blood drive to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina has been scheduled for September 13, from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Mueller Center. In addition, Rensselaer is making monetary contributions to the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and America’s Second Harvest. If you would like to join by making a contribution to one of these agencies, please send your check to Christina Kinner in Finance, Troy Building, Fifth Floor, by September 30. Write the check to the agency, and note “Katrina Hurricane Relief” on the memo line.

I conclude where I began — with thanks. I am overwhelmed by your outpouring of generosity at every level. Once again, the Rensselaer community shows what it can, and will, do when faced with a need that we can meet.

September 2, 2005

To: The Rensselaer Community
From: Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D., President

The devastation in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama reminds us, again, that Rensselaer is a global community. Many of our students, scholars, faculty, alumni, and their families are from regions affected by Hurricane Katrina, where there has been unspeakable tragedy. Even as I write, many of those affected face uncertainty about where they will live, work, and continue their education.

Thus, we are establishing a Gulf Coast Visiting Scholars program which will accept up to 100 students who had enrolled at Tulane University or Xavier University of Louisiana, both located in New Orleans. Tuition, fees, room, and board will be waived for these Visiting Scholars for the Fall 2005 semester. We, also, have offered to accommodate a faculty member or student life professional from these universities to assist us and their students in creating the conditions necessary for success.

This program will also be available to capital region students who had enrolled in any college or university in the Gulf Coast areas affected by the hurricane. Tuition and fees will be waived for these students for the Fall 2005 semester.

Gulf Coast Visiting Scholars must be in good standing in their universities, and Rensselaer must be an appropriate choice for them. Our goal for these students is academic and personal success, as they plan for their return to their home institutions.

We have established a national number for inquiries and information about the Gulf Coast Visiting Scholars program at 1-866-436-6210.

As a matter of community and global responsibility, Rensselaer has made a financial contribution in the amount of $25,000 to the hurricane relief effort of the American Red Cross. We will also make gifts of $5,000 each in the name of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to The Salvation Army and America’s Second Harvest. These organizations have direct and successful experience in this kind of effort.

Many more agencies are doing heroic work, as well. The Rensselaer Web site (below) provides additional information.

I encourage you to contribute to a relief agency of your choice. If you would like to add your contribution to Rensselaer’s, I invite you to write a check to one of the three agencies listed above, and to send or deliver your check by September 30, 2005 to Ms. Christina Kinner, Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Finance, Troy Building, Fifth floor. Please note “Katrina Hurricane Relief” on the memo line, and write the check to the agency and not to Rensselaer.

Other efforts are in planning. Updates will be available at http://www.rpi.edu/katrina.

Higher education is a shared ideal, a network of colleges and universities working with students, their families, and their mentors to provide educational opportunity. As part of this network, Rensselaer acknowledges a fundamental obligation to assist its sister institutions and their students in the regions devastated by Katrina. 

As part of our historic mission to “apply science to the common purposes of life,” Rensselaer has risen to occasions such as those which our nation, especially, the Gulf Coast, now faces. Thank you for all of your efforts, now and to come, as we work together to address this terrible tragedy.

There are good people everywhere who respond to human tragedy with thousands of unheralded acts of human kindness. We want to be among them.

Selected Hurricane Katrina Relief Organizations:

The Salvation Army

http://www.salvationarmyusa.org

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, The Salvation Army continued providing services to storm victims and first responders in Hattiesburg, MS, Mobile, AL and New Orleans, LA. 250 storm refugees continue to receive safe shelter and food at The Salvation Army’s Corp Community Center in New Orleans and Mobile. Canteens are serving hot meals to storm victims and first responders in Hattiesburg, MS and Mobile, AL. Additional canteens are staged in Baton Rouge, LA, and Mobile, AL to be deployed to affected areas along the Gulf Coast once emergency response authorities determine that it is safe to enter these areas.

"As people begin to leave shelters, we are focused on meeting their immediate need for safe drinking water and food," said Major Dalton Cunningham, Salvation Army Commander for the states of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. "We began serving nearly 100,000 hot meals today, and as soon as the flood waters recede, we'll move into more effected area to address the staggering need."

The Salvation Army is prepared to serve up to 500,000 hot meals per day to residents and first responders in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. More than 250 volunteers, employees and officers will serve the meals from approximately 100 mobile canteens that are able to provide up to 5,000 hot meals per day. In addition, the Army has staged two, 54-foot mobile Base Camp kitchens that can provide 20,000 hot meals per day; one is in Baton Rouge; the other in Mobile, and will be moved once emergency response authorities determine a safe location for them.

As well as mass feeding, The Salvation Army is also prepared to offer emotional and pastoral support to storm weary victims of Hurricane Katrina’s wrath. Salvation Army officers (ministers) are prepared to provide encouragement and a compassionate listening ear to residents of areas left to recover from Katrina’s wrath.

The Salvation Army asks people who want help those affected by Hurricane Katrina to visit www.salvationarmyusa.org or call 1-800-SAL-ARMY or visit any Wal-Mart or Sam's Club. For example, a $100 donation will feed a family of four for two days, provide 2 cases of drinking water and one household clean-up kit, containing brooms, mops, buckets, and cleaning supplies. The Salvation Army is deeply grateful for the generosity of contributors like Wal-Mart, which yesterday donated $1 million to help its neighbors in the wake of Katrina.

About The Salvation Army:
The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church, has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination since 1865. Nearly 33 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through the broadest array of social services that range from providing food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless and opportunities for underprivileged children. About 83 cents of every dollar raised is used to support those services in nearly 9,000 communities nationwide.

America’s Second Harvest

http://www.secondharvest.org/default2.asp

America's Second Harvest—The Nation’s Food Bank Network is the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States. Founded in 1979, America's Second Harvest distributed 2.5 million pounds of food to a Network of 13 food banks in its first year operation.  Today, the national Network secures and distributes nearly two billion pounds of food and grocery products to more than 200 regional food banks and food-rescue organizations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

In 2004, Forbes magazine gave America's Second Harvest a charitable commitment rating of 98%—meaning 98% of all product and financial donations received by America's Second Harvest go directly towards feeding hungry people rather than administration or fundraising.

The America's Second Harvest Network distributes food and grocery products to its Member food banks and food rescue organizations.  The food banks and food rescue organizations then distribute food and grocery products to approximately 35,000 programs operating 50,000 feeding agencies nationwide including food pantries, soup kitchens, women’s shelters, Kids Cafes and Community Kitchens. Some of the agencies listed as their advocacy partners are faith based organizations. However, more than 500 national grocery and food service companies, individuals, corporations and charitable foundations support them.

Oxfam America

http://www.oxfam.org/

From the Web site 9/2/2005:

We at Oxfam America express our sorrow and sympathy for the people affected by Hurricane Katrina. While the hurricane affected hundreds of thousands of people, those living in deep poverty were hit the hardest. They include many families who are members of our grassroots partner organizations in rural areas of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Oxfam generally focuses its emergency response on regions where governments and civil society groups have little or no capacity to respond effectively, which is seldom the case in the United States. But, despite all the resources available for relief after Katrina, we’re concerned that some poor communities still may not receive the support they need for long-term recovery of their assets and livelihoods.

We are now assessing the situation to determine where our help is needed most. Coastal flooding may have caused severe damage to farmers’ fields and to fisheries, for example, jeopardizing the livelihoods of the fishing and farming communities where our partners work. But we know already that they will need our support to get back on their feet.

We have therefore created the Hurricane Katrina Response and Recovery Fund, to channel support to our partners and the communities where they work and live. We will update this site as further details of our response are available.

Save the Children

http://savethechildren.org/

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, Save the Children is moving quickly to assist children and their families forced from their homes in the hardest hit areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Save the Children plans to work closely with federal, state and local authorities as well as local community groups to help the thousands of displaced children adjust to their new living conditions.

“Our special focus will be on the dislocated children,” said Charles MacCormack, president and CEO of Save the Children. “We will work with our partners to create safe areas for children to gather and play, as well as provide children materials for fun and learning. Our goal will be to inject some normalcy into their lives, especially among children who have lost their homes and their communities.”

Parents and educators, download the toolkit, Expecting the Unexpected: Building Partnerships and Plans to Help Children Cope with Crises (2002). The guide draws from the best national resources, programs and practices to meet the safety and security needs of children in rural, impoverished communities. It identifies practical models for bringing parents and community agencies together to plan for and recover from disasters.

National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD)

http://www.nvoad.org/index.php

NVOAD a coalition of over 30 national voluntary organizations that cooperate to provide services to victims of disasters in coordination with state and local emergency management agencies and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. NVOAD coordinates planning efforts by many voluntary organizations responding to disaster. Member organizations provide more effective and less duplication in service by getting together before disasters strike. Once disasters occur, NVOAD or an affiliated state VOAD encourages members and other voluntary agencies to convene on site. This cooperative effort has proven to be the most effective way for a wide variety of volunteers and organizations to work together in a crisis.

The following is the list presently on the FEMA website:

Donate Cash:

American Red Cross
1-800-HELP NOW (435-7669) English,
1-800-257-7575 Spanish;

America’s Second Harvest
1-800-344-8070

Operation Blessing
1-800-436-6348

Humane Society of the United States
1-888-259-5431

UJA Federation of New York
212 836-1880

Donate Cash and/or Volunteer:

Adventist Community Services
1-800-381-7171

B'nai B'rith International
1-888-388-4224

Catholic Charities, USA
1-800-919-9338

Christian Disaster Response
941-956-5183 or 941-551-9554

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
1-800-848-5818

Church World Service
1-800-297-1516

Convoy of Hope
417-823-8998

Corporation for National and Community Service Disaster Relief Fund
(202) 606-6718

Feed the Children
1-800-525-7575

Lutheran Disaster Response
800-638-3522

Mennonite Disaster Service
717-859-2210

Nazarene Disaster Response
888-256-5886

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
800-872-3283

Salvation Army
1-800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769)

Southern Baptist Convention -- Disaster Relief
1-800-462-8657, ext. 6440

United Jewish Communities
1-877-277-2477

Union for Reform Judaism

United Methodist Committee on Relief
1-800-554-8583

For further information: visit the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD).