Friends,
Our hearts have been in New Orleans with our friends and musical inspirations, and all their Gulf Coast neighbors, and we have been discussing ways to help. We will be doing a lot of benefits for New Orleans and the Gulf Coast soon and into the future, and will be passing the hat at shows for donations to send to organizations we'd like to support.
We're just getting started. Here some organizations to tell you about...

.************************(((((((IMMEDIATE RELIEF))))))))***************************
Aside from the Red Cross, we'd like to recommend the
**Louisiana Domestic Violence Victim's Hurricane Relief Fund****
administered by an established group called Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence (LCADV) and MADRE. From MADRE's website:
"Because of the hurricane, all direct services for survivors of domestic violence in the gulf coast region have been suspended. Several women’s shelters have been completely destroyed; others were forced to evacuate. The thousands of women and children who were in those shelters require urgent assistance. And many more women now face an increased threat of rape and battering, which tend to surge in the wake of disasters, as abusers react to their own trauma with violence and a vain attempt to reassert control in the face of chaos and loss. The LCADV reports that many women are afraid to register with the Red Cross for fear that their batterers will use the registry to find them. And the LCADV has received reports that women are being battered by their partners in the emergency shelters set up since the hurricane."
******DONATE online at http://madre.org*****

****************************((((((((RELIEF FOR MUSICIANS)))))))***********************************
**New Orleans Musicians' Clinic (NOMC)**
( http://wwoz.org/clinic/) The NOMC is an amazing grassroots organization that provides free medical care to musicians in New Orleans. They have relocated to Lafayette and are trying to re-establish themselves and start helping displaced musicians. Their website is out of date because the server is still down. Until then, use the contact info below, and we'll update you if the info changes:
You can make checks payable to:
NOMC Emergency Fund
Send to:
Barbara L. Bluffin
Private Banking Assistant
Iberia Bank
200 W. Congress
Lafayette, LA 70501
phone: (337) 521-4646
fax:(337) 521-4121 (fax)
The funds will be administered by:
Julie Shafie, MS
Finance Director
SW LA Area Health Education Center Foundation, Inc.
103 Independence Blvd.
Lafayette, LA 70506
phone: (337) 989-0001
fax: (337) 989-1401
email: finance@swlahec.com
web: http://www.swlahec.com
Or contact: Kathy Richard at (337) 989-000

***The Jazz Foundation***
(http://www.jazzfoundation.org)
The Jazz Foundation will be addressing the longer term needs of musicians. They are raising funds and distributing money for rent and other financial support and for what musicians may need most–replacements for lost instruments.
Send donations to:
Jazz Foundation of America
322 West 48th Street 6th floor
NYC 10036
Director: Wendy Oxenhorn
phone: 212-245-3999 Ext. 21
email : Joyce@jazzfoundation.org
web: http://www.jazzfoundation.org
web: http://www.jazzfoundation.org/new_orleans.php
In the efforts to raise funds, The Jazz Foundation of America is now taking donations through Paypal. You can make donations on their site here: http://www.jazzfoundation.org/donate.php

*************(((((COMMUNITY ORGANIZING AND ADVOCACY FOR RELIEF AND RECOVERY))))))***************
***The People's Hurricane Fund***
(From their preliminary press release at http://www.sparkplugfoundation.org/nolacommunityoversight.html)
Community Labor United (CLU), a coalition of the progressive organizations throughout New Orleans, has brought community members together for eight years to discuss socio-economic issues. We have been communicating with people from The Quality Education as a Civil Right Campaign, the Algebra Project, the Young People's Project and the Louisiana Research Institute for Community Empowerment.
We are in the process of setting up a central command post in Jackson, MS, where we will have phone lines, fax, email and a web page to centralize information. We will need volunteers to staff this office.
We have set up a People's Hurricane Fund that will be directed and administered by New Orleanian evacuees. The Young People's Project, a 501(c)3 organization formed by graduates of the Algebra Project, has agreed to accept donations on behalf of this fund. Donations can be mailed to:
The People's Hurricane Fund c/o The Young People's Project
99 Bishop Allen Drive
Cambridge, MA 02139
If you have comments of how to proceed or need more information, please email them to Curtis Muhammad (muhammadcurtis@bellsouth.net) and Becky Belcore (bbelcore@hotmail.com)

***New Orleans Fund***
• Immediately supports direct action and emergency relief organized by the people of New Orleans. Funds will be given to people or organizations providing direct emergency aid and relief to people who are still in harm’s way.
• Funds community and grass roots groups we know and trust to effectively assist in, advocate for, and demand that our neighborhoods and communities are rebuilt in more meaningful and informed ways. The best people to do this are the network of people who have been working for grassroots change below sea level for many years. They were doing needed and under-funded work in New Orleans communities before this disaster, and now are needed more than ever. These are groups working in education, public health, environmental justice, political organizing, community arts, etc.
Donate online at http://neworleansnetwork.org/donate
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NOTE: We are fairly New Orleans-centric here, since that's where our connections are, so please let us know if you know of good grassroots organizations and foundations in the rest of the Gulf Coast region that we should promote. You can email Michele at michele@riseup.net with suggestions or any questions about our fundraising.