CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS 
RESPOND TO HURRICANE KATRINA

A wide variety of charitable organizations in Minnesota and in the U.S. and around the nation, are responding to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and contributions are needed to support immediate and long term relief. Below are a list of organizations that are working to help relief efforts.

To Receive Assistance:

• Hennepin County's Front Door Social Services 
  Call (612) 348-4111 and speak with one of the social workers there to determine whether to go to the  Assistance Center  in St. Paul or to Century Plaza in downtown Minneapolis to receive services. 

• State Hotline
  The State Hotline is  651-297-1304 or 1-800-657-3504. Here you can register with the State Emergency Operations Center.

• FEMA Hotline
  1-800-621-3362 or go to www.fema.gov/register.shtm to register for federal assistance programs and benefits.

• Red Cross
  Minneapolis: 612-871-7676; St. Paul: 651-291-6798.

To Offer Assistance:

• United Way First Call for Help
  Call the United Way's helpline at 211 to offer supplies, money, or find out about volunteer opportunities. Dial 211, or call 651-291-0211 or 800-543-7709.

• HousingLink
  To offer housing vacancies, call HousingLink at 612-520-9233 or e-mail vacancy@housinglink.org

• Home Away from Home
  A agency set up to recruit families to mentor hurricane survivors as they move to Minnesota. To volunteer to help, call 612-721-887 or e-mail homeaway@gmcc.org

Dedicated Funds to Aid Victims. 

• Community Response Fund for Nonprofits
  The Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations (LANO) is spearheading the effort to support the rebuilding of Louisiana nonprofits affected by the storm. Contributions to the funs will be used to assist displaced nonprofit organizations.

• Minnesota Helps Fund
  The Minnesota Helps Fund: Hurricane Katrina Relief Effort is a collaboration of The Minneapolis Foundation, The Saint Paul Foundation, and the Minnesota Community Foundation to facilitate local contributions to disaster relief efforts. 

• Northern Comfort 
  A fund of the Initiative Foundation to raise money for evacuees resettling in the 14-county region.

• Central Minnesota Responds Fund
  The Norman C. Skalicky Foundation is offering to match up to $25,000, in an attempt to raise $50,000. The Foundation is challenging Central Minnesotans to step forward and help those who are suffering through this natural disaster. Norman C. Skalicky is the CEO of Stearns Bank and has generously supported many charities in the past.

• Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas
  Local Jewish agencies, including the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), the Minneapolis Jewish Federation, the United Jewish Fund and Council and Nechama - The Jewish Response to Disaster, have teamed up to provide a way to give help where it is most needed. 

• Baton Rouge Area Foundation
  The Baton Rouge Area Foundation has established two new funds in response to the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Katrina to southeast Louisiana. Tax-deductible donations to one or both of these funds are now being accepted online. Donations by check should be made out to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and the designation of the fund noted on the memo line. Checks should be mailed or delivered to 402 North Fourth Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802.

• Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham
  The foundation has set up two funds: Hurricane Katrina Displaced Residents Fund and the Hurricane Katrina Recovery Fund – Alabama , Louisiana or Mississippi. When filling out the online form, donors should specify where they wish their donation to go.

• American Red Cross
  American Red Cross volunteers have been deployed to the hardest hit areas of Katrina’s destruction, supplying hundreds of thousands victims left homeless with critical necessities. By making a financial gift to Hurricane 2005 Relief, the Red Cross can provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need.
• Americas Second Harvest
  America’s Second Harvest—The Nation’s Food Bank Network, the nation's largest charitable hunger-relief organization has activated its disaster mode in response to Hurricane Katrina. 
• Humane Society of the United States
  In response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, The HSUS has launched a massive relief effort to rescue animals and assist their caregivers in the disaster areas. Our highly trained Disaster Animal Response Teams are now in Mississippi and Texas coordinating a multi-state animal rescue and recovery effort. Our Disaster Response Unit, and other rescue vehicles affiliated with our teams, are in Mississippi.
• Salvation Army
  The Salvation Army is currently providing services to storm victims and first responders in the Gulf Coast states. A $100 donation to The Salvation Army will feed a family of four for two days, provide two cases of drinking water and one household clean-up kit, containing brooms, mops, buckets, and cleaning supplies
• United Way of America's Hurricane Katrina Response Fund
  United Way is working with its partners in leading response and recovery efforts.  We are committed to helping not only with front-line disaster relief, but also long term recovery -- those needs that are often not addressed until the weeks or months following the disaster.   
  

OTHER ONLINE RESOURCES

• Minnesotans find ways to help after hurricane
  Article by Pam Louwagie, Star Tribine, August 30, 2005

• Federal Emergency Management Agency
  Voluntary organizations are seeking cash donations to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina in Gulf Coast states, but volunteers should not report directly to the affected areas unless directed by a voluntary agency.

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