09/02/2005 Wise words. From a letter by friend Philip: "The outpouring of support for my family has been overwhelming, and we are extremely appreciative of the prayers, love and donations, however we can no longer accept donations as tens of thousands of gulf coast citizens need the support more than we do.If people wish to help the victims, please consider the following, keeping in mind this single thought:

It may take between 6 months to 2 years before New Orleans if fully habitable again and the majority of the survivors support networks (family, community, friends, etc.) fall within the devastated areas and they are walking out of the city with: little or no money or limited access to money; few clothes; no potential for income; no schools for their children; limited access to shelter and food; no support network; little to no knowledge of their family’s and friends’ whereabouts; unable to call their known universe within the “504” area-code-exchange; and they’re barely able to process their personal grief, devastation and loss.

Give money directly to the Red Cross – they are providing cash cards, food, clothing and temporary housing directly to individuals and families

Work within your communities, mosques, churches, synagogues, temples and organizations to offer complete relocation packages for families, including housing, food, clothing, jobs and basic life necessities. The current evacuation centers are overwhelmed in LA, MS, TX and AL and these areas are struggling with dwindling resources, overcrowding, growing despair, etc.

Use your connections within private industry and non-profits to facilitate and organize online communications, such as a) pressing Google and Microsoft to link information to their intuitive mapping applications to help evacuees find/locate family and friends, know the status of their property, identify bodies, etc, b) facilitate linking the evacuees with care givers.

A final thought, as you reach out to the people of my hometown: The peoples of New Orleans, though many of us are economically challenged, are incredibly wealthy in our contributions to our country, for we are:

rich with music having given our country Jazz, R&B, Fats Domino, Neville Brothers, Al Hurt, Dr. John, Wynton Marsalis, Louis Prima and many others

rich with food having given our country Creole dishes such as crayfish etoufee, gumbo, Barq’s, beignets, jambalaya, red beans & rice, Popeye’s spicy fried chicken, pralines, Pat O’Brian’s Hurricanes, chicory café au lait, Po-Boys, etc.

rich with culture having given our country Carnival and the Jazz Fest, Bourbon Street and go-cups

rich with history having been founded in 1718, before even the birth of the US, protected by pirates against the British during the War of 1812, and having opened up the American mid-west and Mississippi River valley to trade and economy;

rich with heritage where our peoples are a diverse mix descended from pirates, Irish, Sicilians, slaves, Caribes, Creoles, Native Americans, Spanish, Cajuns, Vietnamese, French, Anglos, and Latins with expansive and inclusive religious beliefs spanning Judaism, Catholicism and Christianity, Islamism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Voodooism and many others.

rich with ecology, having been founded on the swampy banks of a river like our Nation’s Capital, Washington, DC, and overgrown with Live Oaks, Cypress, Banana, Spanish Moss, Citrus, and Palms

rich with economic importance, being one of the largest ports in the world; tightly-coupled to the economies of Central and South America and the Caribbean; being an important telecommunications hub in America’s grid; an importer of the majority of this country’s coffee and tropical fruit and a major exporter of our agricultural products; not to mention a central point in our country’s gas and oil infrastructure.

In a sentence, New Orleans and its people are citizens of the US who have contributed immensely to the growth, enrichment and sustainment of our great country, and we are humbled by our fellow citizen’s outpouring of financial support, prayers and love. And we look forward to our government’s acknowledgement of the importance of New Orleans as it orchestrates the rebuilding of our once vibrant city and better directs the flow of the Mississippi to re-establish our country’s largest wetlands which surround and will protect this great city from future storms.