GULF RECOVERY PROGRAM

Susan Hughes with students in the Drew Elementary School Library.

"On behalf of the students of Drew Elementary, I would like to thank Plenty for all of the wonderful books...Many of our students lost all [their] books in the flood after Katrina. You can imagine how excited they were to see Mr. Selin and all the books he delivered to our school. Our school library was empty until Jim brought the books from Plenty. Students were permitted to come to the library and select books to take home to start their book collections again. They were delighted.-"-Susan G. Hughes, Librarian, Charles R. Drew Elementary School, Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans. [Over the past 2 years, Plenty volunteer, Jim Selin, has delivered more than 16,000 books to the Gulf Coast.]

Many thousands of Gulf Coast residents like this single mom still have not been able to move back home, often due to the lack of only a few thousand dollars for materials.

On August 29, the Third Year Anniversary of Katrina, several of us from Plenty participated in a "Bury Katrina" ritual (pictured above) in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. After the ceremony we packed up and evacuated ahead of hurricane Gustav. We want to express our continuing gratitude to DreamCatchers and the Philip R. Jonsson Foundation for their support of Plenty's Gulf Recovery Program.

Chauvin, Louisiana after hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Plenty is working to raise more funds to help the people of Terrebonne, Lafourche and St. Bernard Parishes who, sill recovering from hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, were hit again by flooding that the levees were unable to contain.

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