http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=4524967On the last day, we drove to the Gulfport airport along U.S. 90, which runs along the Gulf. Due to a bad cold, I had not ventured far away from the camp and had mostly worked in the food shelf and medical tents, so I was stunned to see the miles and miles of completely destroyed houses, as well as clothes, bedding, and even furniture stuck up in trees.
There are private contractors willing to clean up people's houses and yards, but they charage a lot, and this is a poor area, so most people are dependent on their own efforts or volunteers. FEMA is slow in providing trailers, and some people don't even have clean drinking water yet--the food shelf still has to distribute bottled water.
Working in Camp Coast Care, I saw that they had plenty of used clothing, stuffed animals, peanut butter, beans, rice, pasta, canned corn, raisins, tomato soup, cereal, canned peas, and powdered milk, but not enough of anything else. Many staples, such as cooking oil, flour, sugar, coffee, tea, and paper products were either in extremely short supply or entirely absent. One group of volunteers filled most of their bus with toilet paper bought at the local WalMart, and even though we limited everyone to two rolls per customer, it was gone in 90 minutes.
Plus size clothing was at a premium, and everyone is tired of getting other people's old dirty T shirts (it's disgusting what people will try to donate), but unused clothing donated by stores stirs up some excitement.
Children need active toys (not more stuffed animals) and school supplies. A box of "school bags" donated by some schoolchildren in Pennsylvania was gone before I could finish unpacking it.
In the medical area, they need basic over-the-counter drugs such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Advil/Motrin), naproxen (Alleve), Benadryl, and loratidine (Claritin), as well as vitamins and minerals (multiple and single), anti-fungal creams, condoms, and anti-lice shampoo.
The camp also appreciates gift cards to national chain stores, because they can use them if, for example, a visitor to the medical tent needs a prescription medication that the medical tent doesn't have on hand.
It was an exhausting and uncomfortable week, but I'm glad I did it. On the way home from church today, I stopped off at the supermarket to replenish my groceries, and as I walked out with salad greens and cheese, I thought, "The people who come to Camp Coast Care don't get to choose what they want to eat. They just have to eat what's available."
For more information see
http://www.campcoastcare.com