The Greater Lansing area in general and the African American community in particular rolled up their collective sleeves and opened their hearts and pocketbooks in response to the destruction and devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The Capital City has geared up:

The Lansing School District reopened Verlinden Elementary School, closed due to down sizing, as a temporary host site for 88 people. Several churches and organizations collected food, bottled water, clothing and other essentials. Gov. Jennifer Gramholm charged the state to be prepared to host up to 10,000 evacuees and sent a contingent of the Michigan National Guard, State Police Officers and disaster experts to assist with the on-going recovery effort in the Gulf Coast states.

Soon after the storm moved on, the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus organized a three-bus caravan to deliver supplies and pick up evacuees. However, due to a communication glitch, 200 people were flown to Battle Creek and the buses returned with just a few families.
On Sept. 12 close to 50 people arrived in Lansing from Louisiana. All of them were placed in individual houses or apartments according to Rep. Michael C. Murphy.	On Sept 3, 2005 The Michigan Legislative Black Caucus sent supplies to New Oleans Pictured Lt to Rt organizers Kelly Dean, Freya Rivers, Rep Griffin Rivers, Barbara Roberts Mason and Rep Michael Murphy

“Because of the overwhelming response to the ‘Call For Help,’ we were able to furnish all of the housing units with complete sets of furniture and household goods. That includes a mother with six children, ranging from 14 months to ten years old who arrived by bus at 11:45 Sunday night. We expect more families to arrive and anticipate even more evacuees to Lansing during the week, Murphy said.

“Many churches have volunteered to provide meals and other welcome activities for evacuees.

“We are changing gears and asking churches to Adopt-A-Family. We are asking faith-based organizations and others to identify people and/groups who would like to serve as sponsors for families and individuals. The contact phone will be at Central United Methodist Church: 485-9477.

Murphy continued, “There are no adequate words to thank the people of this wonderful community for your outpouring of support, except to say a heartfelt ‘THANK YOU’, recognizing that the gift of giving is felt within and does not require a verbal expression of gratitude,” Murphy said.

Everyone pitched in: Labor organizations, faith based organizations, civic clubs, community groups, city, and state governmental agencies. The following are collection sites for donations of clothing, food, diapers and other items:

*New Mount Calvary Baptist Church, 3800 Miller Road.

*Pentecostal Outreach Church of God in Christ, 2645 W. Holmes Rd.

* St. Stephen’s Community Church, 1420 W. Oakland Ave.
* Central United Methodist Church, 215 N. Capitol Ave.

* First Presbyterian Church, 510 W. Ottawa St.

St. Vincent Catholic Charities has been working with job offers, collecting furniture and coordinating housing.

Central United Methodist Church has been coordinating volunteers for the adopt-a-family program.

The Capital Area United Way set up a response fund for donations earmarked for evacuees’ needs.

Heavy-duty fund raising is being carried out by state and national organizations.

American Red Cross: www.redcross.org or (800) HELP-NOW (435-7669)
Salvation Army: www.salvationarmyusa.org or
(800) SAL-ARMY (725-2769)

The Humane Society of the United States: www.hsus.org or
(888) 259-5431

Michigan Hurricane Helpline: (888) 535-6136