Teams Affected by Hurricane Katrina

[Nikhil Bajaj]

Originally Posted by Tazlikesrobots

Being a past hurricane survivor, the best thing we can help with is cash donations to the red cross, etc. FIRST has over 1000 active teams and if each team donated $100.00 the total combined effort would be more than 100,000. Better yet if each team was able to donate $1,000 then the total combined effort would be over a million.

I can look into setting up an account to accept donations and have the proceeds go to the red cross. Does anyone think else this is a good idea?

I hope the teams affected by the hurricane can have a FIRST season. Even if they all combined into one team, or joined other teams.

I think that's a great idea.

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Andy Baker

... he would volunteer to host exchange students from other countries.

...

I am wondering if we could do this for students on these FIRST teams in the Gulf Coast area? Of course, this time, there would be no "exchange". It could be a placement program for FIRST students from teams in this area.

Could this happen? Is it needed? What are some of the legal hurdles here? If anyone wants to help investigate this, PM me and we can start working on this idea.

Andy B.

I thought the same thing, but with questions. Would HS students like to be "exchanged" throughout the country? Or would they prefer to stay with their families, no matter how tenuous the situation? (I'm sure it's a different decision for each individual.)

I don't think there would be much of a legal hurdle - after all, as you say, students have been traded to/from abroad for years, it shouldn't be that hard to do it within the country. I don't know if you could go through one of the existing agencies that arrange this kind of thing.

As for fundraising, there's no need to set up separate accounts. If a FIRST team wants to collect funds, all power to them. Just forward the amount to the Red Cross or Salvation Army or UMCOR or other agencies that are already set up to do disaster relief. It will get to the people that need it faster.

Many of us know what the Astrodome is like. OK, it's dry, has water, has electricity. But it's far from comfortable. I wouldn't want to think of sharing it for weeks with thousands of people. Let's do what we can to help those moving there, and the many others who will be getting aid in other locations.

I'm posting a challenge. Whatever you had personally decided to donate, double it. Then do it again next week, and again next month. There will be a need far into the future. Just to get enough for the emergency situation, every resident of the US will have to donate the equivalent of one day's cost for one person's food and shelter. That doesn't even address the relocation and rebuilding costs.

[Conor Ryan]

I just wanted to put light on a topic that hasn't been discussed much that I'm still in awe of.

• Imagine being a Freshman (or any other Year for that fact of matter) in College, your going to one of the 6 Major University's in New Orleans

-Tulane
-Loyola of New Orleans
-Louisiana State University (LSU)
-University of New Orleans
-Southern University at New Orleans
-Xaiver University of New Orleans
and then BAM, your first week and the city takes on a biblical like flood. All your new stuff is gone, not ruined...gone. The schools are telling you to not go near the city at all. What do you do?

[Jack Jones]

I'd hate to see our donations go to pay high six figure salaries for the EOs of the Red Cross, or to get siphoned off toward "future disasters" the way the RC did with the 9/11 donations.

Does anyone know the relative administrative costs of participating charities? Really, does anybody know?

All I know is that back in the 60s my fellow servicemen despised the Red Cross and recommended the Salvation Army because one would charge the needy for services, while the other did not. That has stuck with me since then. I want to know who gets what.

[Madison]

I am in favor of a focused effort to help these teams -- particularly over donating to organizations like the Red Cross. I wouldn't be surprised if their overhead was something near 20% of all donations.

For any focused effort to work, the first thing we need to learn is where the students and mentors associated with these teams are and where they plan to be in the coming months. Many people are moving to Texas, but it's just as likely that they'll relocate to northern Louisiana and Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and elsewhere. If we had people with closer ties to these teams, we might be able to piece together some of this information.

bhweezer, jdhawg -- are you in a position to provide information to us about your teammates and mentors? We can help you to contact them to learn about their condition and later, connect them with support in the FIRST community.

Lucia -- can you coordinate with teams in greater Houston, learning who might be willing to accomodate some of these displaced students? Are you familiar with teams based in New Orleans? I'm not sure where they competed last year.

There is so much we can do, but it's difficult to get started because everything is so chaotic just now. Once things settle some and we can, potentially, get some people together to organize locally, I don't think we'll have any problem placing these kids and mentors in familiar, constructive environments.

[Greg Perkins]

I hate to sound crude, but why are we worrying about funding now? the hurricane hit a few days ago...while we are talking about how these teams cannot afford to compete, hundreds even thousands of people have died. I think we should look at the bigger picture; yes its sad to see teams not being able to compete, however i think the quality of life far outweighs the cost of competing. As for what I think needs to be done? I think that these people need to go somewhere...somewhere were they will not starve, not dehydrate, and not die. If i were a company (lets say holland america cruise line, or Best Western) I would donate time, money and housing to the THOUSANDS of people who have nothing.
What Houston is doing is wonderful...its not the best answer for the problem, but its certainly the most logical. I mean these people who have been stuck at the SuperDome have NO water NO food and NO sanitary living conditions. I think our priority should be to save lives, not to try and fund teams at this moment.

[JVGazeley]

I must concur with that. The requirements for survival are more important than the luxury of building a robot...

The southern states have bigger building projects to worry about... the re-building of displaced and/or destroyed communities

[Kevin Sevcik]

I'll concur with Greg. There's some rather larger priorities at the moment. I know we all like to pretend the FIRST is the extent of our little universe, but there's a lot more outside it. I'm certain the students on teams in the worst affected areas are worried about more important things than if they'll get to compete next year. Things like if they'll have a place to live next year. Once more basic concerns are addressed, then we can worry about little luxuries like robotics.

To Gary, I applaud your call for funds, but ask that you don't belittle what Houston is doing with the Astrodome. It's housing for people without any and is likely to be the only housing available to them for a long time to come. Reliant Park has completely cleared the Dome's schedule to give these people somewhere to live. San Antonio has offered to take in another 25,000 people. Astroworld is giving free admission to anyone with a LA or MS driver's license, and free admission to ALL on monday. A local radio station has been running a Requestathon since 6am yesterday and has raised over $180K for the red cross. Texas is giving an awful lot to support our brothers and sisters affected by this disaster.

[Madison]

My abilities to effect sweeping change are limited. I simply do not have the influence or resources to house and feed thousands, but I want to help. I can make myself available as a resource for those who are interested in providing some comfort to the students who're displaced by making FIRST available to them.

If they want to compete so they have some respite from worrying about their basic needs, we'll find them somewhere they can do that.
If they want help rebuilding their homes, we'll find them someone who can lend a hand.

I'm certain these kids aren't worried about whether they'll compete this year. I'll worry about it for them.

[Kims Robot]

Originally Posted by Jack Jones

I'd hate to see our donations go to pay high six figure salaries for the EOs of the Red Cross, or to get siphoned off toward "future disasters" the way the RC did with the 9/11 donations.

Does anyone know the relative administrative costs of participating charities? Really, does anybody know?

All I know is that back in the 60s my fellow servicemen despised the Red Cross and recommended the Salvation Army because one would charge the needy for services, while the other did not. That has stuck with me since then. I want to know who gets what.

I was thinking the same thing and havent decided if we will donate to the red cross or not... i'd probably need to get more details. They do do great things, but I have heard some horor stories (like from my secretary just today she told me of RC issues in her family). But this link has some really good suggestions if you are considering donating elsewhere: http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...8/cpid/310.htm

[Kims Robot]

Ok so I bought the materials and made a sample tonight The only difference is that the little circle would be laminiated on the real thing.

We should be able to make 650 with supplies that only cost about $16!

[KarenH]

A friend of mine, professional zydeco fiddler Lisa Haley, notified me today about The Louisiana Hurricane Relief Concert in Redondo Beach, CA on Sat., Sept 10 at Aviation Park from 12 noon - 7PM.

This event will benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina in combination with the Redondo Beach Patriots Day event in memory of the victims of 9/11. Lisa is lining up several bands that play Louisiana style music, including her own band.

Suggested Admission: tax-deductible donation of $15 to the Salvation Army, Redondo Beach Chapter, to be earmarked for distribution to Salvation Army relief efforts in Louisiana.

If you live in our area, you could come and hear some fun music, maybe even dance a bit, and make a small monetary donation to help the hurricane victims.

If you live elsewhere, maybe you could help local musicians organize a similar event. I was wondering how she organized this so fast, but I see she's working with the city to "piggyback" onto an existing event. (She's played concerts for city events numerous times before; experience helps!)

Lisa's website is http://www.bluefiddle.com, but I don't think she's updated it yet to include this event.

[Kyle]

Originally Posted by Conor Ryan

I just wanted to put light on a topic that hasn't been discussed much that I'm still in awe of.

• Imagine being a Freshman (or any other Year for that fact of matter) in College, your going to one of the 6 Major University's in New Orleans

-Tulane
-Loyola of New Orleans
-Louisiana State University (LSU)
-University of New Orleans
-Southern University at New Orleans
-Xaiver University of New Orleans
and then BAM, your first week and the city takes on a biblical like flood. All your new stuff is gone, not ruined...gone. The schools are telling you to not go near the city at all. What do you do?

The University of Delaware and Delaware Technical are accepting students and providing as much housing as possible to students from all of those colleges that were affected we already have 3 people coming next week for Fire Eng from one of those schools.

[Tazlikesrobots]

Originally Posted by Kims Robot

Ok so I bought the materials and made a sample tonight The only difference is that the little circle would be laminiated on the real thing.

We should be able to make 650 with supplies that only cost about $16!

Looks great!

[mpob]

Originally Posted by Kims Robot

I was thinking the same thing and havent decided if we will donate to the red cross or not... i'd probably need to get more details. They do do great things, but I have heard some horor stories (like from my secretary just today she told me of RC issues in her family). But this link has some really good suggestions if you are considering donating elsewhere: http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...8/cpid/310.htm

After 9/11 my family donated to the RC, but we were not happy with the way that turned out. Last winter, with the tsunami, we decided to donate money to Samaritan's Purse. They followed up with newsletters about what they were doing to help. Here is an article about what they are doing right now about Katrina:

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/MP_Ar...p?ArticleID=42

I followed Kim's link and see that they have a 4-star rating! cool!
Thanks Kim !

We don't have to feel helpless about this tragedy, the best thing we can do for the victims of Katrina is to pray, today and everyday.

--Mike O'Brien