How To Help

Contact Leslie at: KatrinaCoalition@aol.com

Thank you for finding Real People Relief. It is a site that accepts nothing on behalf of those whos information is listed here. It is not an organization with not-for-profit status, but the efforts of a few people to make available help to those who have fallen through the cracks of hurricane relief.

1/23 Another option:
One thing that seems to be working with several of us - pick an item that you wish to give, and give that to one family per month. One gives bakeware. I give general items that I can make or already have. Another gives gift cards. Yet another gives dishes. If you would like to become part of this effort, please let me know. It seems to be working incredibly well.
L

Both the recipients and the givers must be discerning in who they choose to communicate with. The recipients are vetted as much as possible, but nothing is ever certain. Since no real contact with the givers is expected, there is no way to vet them.

A trend that is anecdotal only shows it takes 20-50 people to help 1 fully recover. This is true on any level - be it family, church, municipality, office, business, etc. And while this may sound overwhelming, it is a situation where just 1 person can make the whole difference for another person's life.

Consistency is the key with helping. Even if you can only help a little each month, that's fine. $5 is toilet paper! A one-time-only gift is always welcomed, but the emotional and spiritual benefit from establishing a longer term arrangement will reward all of those involved equally. I speak from experience!

I strongly urge you to get a group of people together and assist as a group. But if you'd rather remain singular in the effort, that's wonderful too. However best fits your style.
I also urge you to print this post during the shopping season and post it everywhere they let you! Right click to save the poster and then print out on your color printer. It's sized to fit normal pages.

If you give used items, please make sure the items are clean, stain free, undamaged and fully working. The last thing these folks need is to get items that need discarding. And why waste the postage on something that doesn't work?

When you do send items on their lists, please try to work within the preferences they have listed. It helps them return to some sense of normalcy.

You will need to contact the person by email in order to send them anything. Absolutely no addresses will be put on this site unless the family/person/couple is working with and through a volunteer agency.

Again, thank you for choosing to help. Relief work is incredibly rewarding and is so needed, both locally and abroad. I've chosen to help those in my country. Others choose to help in other parts of the world. What you choose will help someone no matter what. You will never know the full impact of your generosity - for it will reach further than you can ever imagine.