February trip to the Gulf Coast by Elaine Langley

Hi everyone! I finally found some time to write about my trip to the gulf coast of Mississippi/Louisiana that I took in February. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Katrina victims' needs are still not being met. To the Editor: I was much encouraged by Tipper Gore's story and photos of New Orleans, "So much left to do," There is not enough news coverage of the devastation along the coast of Mississippi and Louisiana. I am a nurse who has made seven trips now, in between working my full time job, trying to make sense of the lack of help. Anyone who has traveled to the coast can see it is still like a third-world country. The only help these people are getting is from the small relief groups and the various church organizations. I do want to thank everyone who responded to my last call, but the needs continue. In February, I met a 78-year-old sickly woman from Biloxi, living in her moldy house that has never been gutted, while raising 6-year-old twin granddaughters. She was refused a FEMA trailer. I would especially like to thank a gentleman named Paul, who has taken truck loads of food to Mississippi. He is currently organizing another trip to the Pass Christian distribution center run by two local heroic women named Eleanor and Marley. Both lost everything in the storm, but they continue to keep this center open on sheer faith because they never know where supplies are coming from. Let's continue to open our hearts to these people living in such desperation and need. Any one of us could be in a similar situation. Elaine Langley Summertown 38483 Prior to my trip, I had written a letter to the editor of the Tennessean newspaper, stating it still is like a third world country and there is no help except from the small non-profit relief organizations and church groups. I received a great response from the letter. A number of people donated food and supplies. I am extremely grateful to an older couple named Mary Ann and Harvey, who spent weeks collecting supplies from their church. Eleanor Snyder, a retired nurse living in Nashville and an old friend of the Farm, responded to my letter and expressed interest in traveling with me. So we made a girl trip that consisted of Eleanor, Cara from the Echo Village and myself. Eleanor, Cara, & Elaine On February 8th, the Plenty cargo van was loaded up with our supplies and we headed down to the coast. On our way out, Wal-mart topped off our donations with multiple cases of bleach and we barely had any room to sit. It was a great collection of goods. We spent our first night in Mobile, Alabama at a volunteer house and were up bright and early the next day heading for Biloxi, Mississippi. We parked our van in front of my adopted family's house, Betty Smith, and proceeded to unload. We went door-to-door, gathered all the neighbors I had gotten to know from my previous trips, and had a free giveaway yard sale. Betty Smith and Elaine Langley, Biloxi, free yard sale. Everyone came out and it was great fun! We had food, blankets, some clothes, shoes, and lots of toys and kid books. There is a bunch of kids in this neighborhood, so it was great to have so many nice toys to give away. All the kids were very excited. Betty Smith's daughter Kim also broke the news that she was pregnant, so I gave her one of Judy Meeker's More Than Warmth quilts. (Judy had donated a few quilts for us to take). She also gave us a beautiful full size hand made quilt that I gave to Betty. I had Betty wrap herself up in the quilt so I could take a picture. We had a few things left in the van, so we dropped the rest off at a local church distribution center up the street from Betty's house. Catherine and Kamari (little boy), neighbors in Biloxi at the free yard sale. Kara French and Kamari in Biloxi. Kamarie wearing his new skates! Free yard sale in Betty Smith's yard, Biloxi.  Cara French and Eleanor Snyder with woman at a Biloxi church distribution Center Toward evening, we made our way to the volunteer camp in Slidell, Louisiana and Niki (who runs the camp) had a nice veggie meal waiting for us. As always, Niki took great care of us the week we were there. There were a number of young people from Maine staying at the camp and working in New Orleans, so Cara decided to spend the rest of her week with them. The next day, while Cara headed toward New Orleans to work, Eleanor and I headed to Pass Christian, Mississippi. I took Eleanor along the coast for a tour of the devastation, while we visited a number of volunteer camps and church groups working there. In the afternoon, we went to see my friends Eleanor Jones and Marley, who run the distribution center in Pass Christian. Distroyed home along the coast. Eleanor Jones and Marley Paul with Elaine at Pass Christian distribution center "A Walk in the Park." Photo by Eleanor Snyder Plenty had given us $500 to take the ladies shopping for food and supplies. We followed Eleanor Jones and Marley to the Dollar Store where they stocked up on dish soap, laundry detergent, disinfectant, etc. They knew exactly how to shop and get the most for a buck. We then went to the neighborhood grocery store. The manager knew the girls, so he gave us all a senior discount. We all decided to be more efficient and organize a contest. Each of us took our own cart to see who could fill it up with the most stuff for $100. Of course Marley and Eleanor Jones were winning, so Eleanor and I followed them around to get pointers. Speaking of pointers, while I was following Marley, the store radio started playing Jump For Your Love by the Pointer Sisters, so we started to dance. That song will never sound the same to me. After checking out and loading up the car and van with all our loot, we dropped everything off at the center. It was now pitch dark. We all hugged and Eleanor and I headed back to camp, feeling great. On Sunday, Eleanor, Jim (another volunteer from the camp), and I went shopping for food. We made up individual boxes of oatmeal, spaghetti noodles with sauce, rice, etc to distribute in Biloxi. We met Betty Smith from my family and she took us door-to-door to give a food box to each household. It was a great way to meet people and see each individual situation. Everyone was so grateful! The most heartbreaking situation for me was meeting a 78 year old woman, sickly and in a wheel chair, still living in her moldy house since the hurricane hit. Additionally, she was raising her six year old twin granddaughters. This neighborhood was flooded with six feet of water, and so, these houses are very toxic. Each family has their own personal story which is tragic and saddens the heart. Plenty volunteer, Eleanor Snyder, RN with Biloxi resident. Elaine and Eleanor were going door to door delivering food and other relief items. Catherine and Kamari with Eleanor and Elaine in Biloxi. Photo by Kara French Neighbor with food supplies. Betty Smith on the right and one of her neighbors in Biloxi during Plenty distribution of supplies. We also made a stop at a daycare center located in a place called tent city where there are rows of army tents set up for housing 500 families. We donated some of Judy Meeker's quilts here to the babies and were able to meet some nice families. Rebecca, director of the daycare is currently looking for materials to rebuild her center lost in the storm. This is another worthwhile project I wish Plenty could fund. Rebecca Dickensauge, Director of Pass Christian Day Care Center ("Children's Imagination Station") with MTW quilt and Elaine Langley. The Center is at Tent City where she cares for 60 children for free. She lost her Center in the hurricane and is trying to get funding and materials to rebuild. There's a need to care for over 200 children.  Photo by Eleanor Snyder. Christine Murto of AidSail at Day Care Center in Tent City, Pass Christian. MTW quilt for Pass Christian Day Care Center. A week later we made our way home, along with Gordon from Veterans for Peace who works with Plenty. Cara stayed on to work in New Orleans. Jim, the volunteer who helped us give out food in Biloxi is an old friend of the Farm. He makes peace buttons and he gave me a few that had a picture of Jesus that said Who Would Jesus Bomb?. We had so much fun with those. We had other peace buttons but everybody wanted the Jesus buttons and they displayed them proudly. I continue to talk with my friends from Biloxi and the word on the street is that the Casinos are taking over this whole area. Biloxi's main income before the storm was gambling, so the Casinos with all their revenue are now buying up the low income housing and building expensive apartments the poor cannot afford. Katrina has given these corporations an opportunity to push out the low income families. Additionally, I was told FEMA is coming in and taking back the trailers, even though the original agreement was for 18 months. Although these trailers are not an ideal living situation, these people have nowhere else to go. These are the highlights of our trip. One of my main focuses right now is to get food to Pass Christian, Mississippi. Eleanor Jones and her crew are feeding 2000 people on a regular basis, so if anyone has access to trucking down large amounts of food, please contact Plenty. Thanks for listening, Elaine Langley Back to Plenty's Hurricane Katrina and Rita Relief Efforts