Hurricane Katrina

[DizneyNutz]

My DH and I feel very blessed to be a part of a group as special as DVC----

I am asking all of you to remember how blessed we/you are and reach out to those who are suffering in ways that we can only imagine, and contact the Red Cross and donate what you can to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

If you can't donate at this time, please remember all of the victims and rescuers in your prayers.

May God Bless---

www.redcross.org

 

[T.E. Yeary]

I tried to donate earlier today on the Red Cross link. I got upset because after giving all my credit card info etc, and pushed send, all these wierd messages came up, error 4004, or whatever. I E-Mailed Webmaster Corey and he said it was the Red Cross link.

I went back and read farther and the message said they were receiving so many calls to try later in the day.

That really made me feel good to know so many folks were trying to help those poor people.

Needless to say, I will keep on trying!

 

[jekjones1558]

I recommend the Salvation Army (their sites may also be busy, but hang in there, like the folks who need us are hanging in there!)

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

I work for NY Blood Center, one of the US's biggest blood banks. We have been informed that most hospitals in the New Orleans vicinity won't be able to collect blood at this time. All the blood centers across the US are banding together to ship blood to New Orleans. Wherever you may live, if you can donate blood it's badly needed to ensure the sick and injured in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina have the supply they need.

 

[lizanne]

Does anyone know if a diabetic can donate blood. I'm in good health otherwise and would really like to do something to help (besides donation).

I can't imagine being in such a disaster. No home, no food or water, no school for the children, no job, no idea when things will get better. God help us all.

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

Does anyone know if a diabetic can donate blood. I'm in good health otherwise and would really like to do something to help (besides donation).

I can't imagine being in such a disaster. No home, no food or water, no school for the children, no job, no idea when things will get better. God help us all.

Diabetics can absolutely donate blood. One of the main things I teach at the NY Blood Center is called "Criteria for an Acceptable Donation", so I know the "rules" very well. If you are on insulin you should eat prior to donating, and your sugar should be stable. If your diabetes is controlled with oral meds or diet there are no qualifications whatsoever, you are eliglble to donate as long as you meet all our other criteria.

Who cannot donate (and this is not all inclusive):

Anyone who has had a tattoo in the past year.
Anyone who has had a body piercing in the past year, unless it was done with sterile single use equipment, then it's OK.
Anyone who has traveled to a malarious area in the past year (Europe is not malarious, most of south america is, some of mexico is--you'll have to tell them where you traveled when you go to donate, and they will determine if the area has malaria or not).
People who have visited certain European Countries--mostly the UK but there are others- during certain years (due to mad cow) Again, you'll have to tell the blood drive people where and when you went to determine if you're eligible
Anyone who has taken money or drugs for sex since 1977, even once.
Anyone who has used illegal drugs with a needle, even once.
People who have Aids, are HIV postitive.
People who have had hepatitis after age 11.
Anyone currently taking anti-biotics for an infection.
Anyone currently pregnant or who had a baby or who had a pregnancy that ended past the third trimester in the past six weeks.

People who can donate (Besides the obvious people who are healthy and don't fall under any of he categories above:

Anyone taking high blood pressure meds.
Anyone taking cholesterol meds.
Anyone taking allergies meds, as long as you're feeling well.
17 year old minimum (some states 16, so ask), 76th birthday maximum.
You must weigh 110 lbs or more.

If you have been told you are "anemic" I would still try, we take your hemoglobin and if it's not high enough we'll let you know and defer you from donating. I have had more then one person tell me they were anemic who's hemoglobin turned out fine and they were able to donate.

 

[DISNEYWORLDBORN2SHOP]

It is so heartwarming to come to these boards and see that fellow DIS members are thinking about us. We live in Metarie, La which is a suburb right outside of New Orleans. We evacuated to Houston on Sunday and the people in this city have been remarkable. Someone in the hotel lobby tonight asked me if I was from Louisiana and paid for our room for 7 nights. At this point we are trying to decide where to set up our temp home and where to enroll our 2 boys in school. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever believe this would happen to us.

I have contemplated calling MS to see if they have a studio we can have for a month. I think we have enought points but I don't know about work. Both DH and I work for local New Orleans companys.

Hoping any other DISers from New Orleans have gotten out safe and sound.

 

[Laurabearz]

I finally got thru on the Red Cross website this evening.

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

It is so heartwarming to come to these boards and see that fellow DIS members are thinking about us. We live in Metarie, La which is a suburb right outside of New Orleans. We evacuated to Houston on Sunday and the people in this city have been remarkable. Someone in the hotel lobby tonight asked me if I was from Louisiana and paid for our room for 7 nights. At this point we are trying to decide where to set up our temp home and where to enroll our 2 boys in school. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever believe this would happen to us.

I have contemplated calling MS to see if they have a studio we can have for a month. I think we have enought points but I don't know about work. Both DH and I work for local New Orleans companys.

Hoping any other DISers from New Orleans have gotten out safe and sound.

Tooneric from our DVC boards and his family are safe and sound. They were thinking of a trip to WDW for a week or so, just to feel better since they can't go home. I am glad you and yours are safe and sound too! I am thinking and praying for all the people affected by this terrible hurricane...

 

[nono]

Check, and matching gift form (to double our donation) goes in the mail today. We're just going to put off a few purchases planned for September. It won't hurt us much, and it sure should help others a lot more!

 

[JimMIA]

Three quick things - One, some good news. The Miami-Dade Police Department did a blood drive yesterday, coordinated by DW, and it was very big. Our blood centers here are depleted because they were closed for several days when Katrina came through here.

Two, many employers do donation matches at a time like this, so watch out for those. Our family has a charitable gift fund and one of my daughters' employers often matches, so we're waiting for them to announce. We hurt 'em bad after 9-11.

Three - times like this also bring out the worst in folks, so be on the lookout for phony charity solicitations. Stick with the ones you know (Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc.), and NEVER respond to a telephone solicitation...especially if they say it's for police or firefighter families.

If anyone wants to contribute to a legitimate police charity, let me know and I'll see what ours is doing. At a minimum, I'm sure they'll send money. Last year, we sent caravans of off-duty officers, tools and supplies to several places in Florida to help dry in officers homes and help their families. We're taking care of some local needs right now, but I'm sure we'll be organizing something similar once it's feasible to get back into some of those areas on the Gulf Coast.

 

[mbb]

It is so heartwarming to come to these boards and see that fellow DIS members are thinking about us. We live in Metarie, La which is a suburb right outside of New Orleans. We evacuated to Houston on Sunday and the people in this city have been remarkable. Someone in the hotel lobby tonight asked me if I was from Louisiana and paid for our room for 7 nights. At this point we are trying to decide where to set up our temp home and where to enroll our 2 boys in school. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever believe this would happen to us.

I have contemplated calling MS to see if they have a studio we can have for a month. I think we have enought points but I don't know about work. Both DH and I work for local New Orleans companys.

Hoping any other DISers from New Orleans have gotten out safe and sound.

I'm glad you're safe and sound...know that we're thinking of you - all the way from Nova Scotia, Canada...take care!!

 

[magicalmcwho]

Hi DISNEYWORLDBORN2SHOP,

Glad you and your family made it out safe. Our thought and prayers go out to all the victims. DW and I want to help out. We will be giving to a nearby shelter or to the American Red Cross. We would like to volunteer to help some of the victims coming to the Astrodome. I will checking in to that today.

If you need anything, send me a PM.

Jim.

 

[lllovell]

It is so heartwarming to come to these boards and see that fellow DIS members are thinking about us. We live in Metarie, La which is a suburb right outside of New Orleans. We evacuated to Houston on Sunday and the people in this city have been remarkable. Someone in the hotel lobby tonight asked me if I was from Louisiana and paid for our room for 7 nights. At this point we are trying to decide where to set up our temp home and where to enroll our 2 boys in school. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever believe this would happen to us.

I have contemplated calling MS to see if they have a studio we can have for a month. I think we have enought points but I don't know about work. Both DH and I work for local New Orleans companys.

Hoping any other DISers from New Orleans have gotten out safe and sound.

I am so glad to hear that more of our LA families are safe and sound. That is what matters most for now. The rest will fall into place over time. I am also very glad to hear that other people are helping you and giving you support (be it financial or simply a hug). I want to physically hurt those people that are hurting others right now. (I do understand the looters that are taking food and water, but the rest sicken me beyond words). Please know you are in our thoughts and prayers Born2Shop and I hope the road back to "normal" is short.

Mar - I didn't think I could give blood right now, but I read right that 6-8 weeks after delivery I can? (does it matter about it being a c-section?). I used to do pherisis (sp?) every few months and think I would like to start doing that again. Are the wait times for that different? (I would ask this in pm, but maybe the information will help someone else too )

Laura

 

[d-r]

This is probably a dumb idea, but is there anyway we could give dvc points to help someone stay for a while, maybe if we pooled them together. I guess it would be way to many points for us to be able to make a dent, but between s. florida, alabama, mississippi, la, there are a lot of homeless folks that a studio for a week would probably feel like heaven.

 

[GBKandN]

I'd be glad to donate the 9 Boardwalk points I have, but that isn't much.
So, I called DVC and was told I can donate to Red Cross and simply ask the local chapter to give me a family name in order to book a room.

If several of us got together and donate 5 points each, we could actually pool our resources and come up with something.

So, no, it's not a dumb idea at all. I love it.

I also own at Hilton GVC and I can donate through HiltonHHonors to RedCross and they can use it to book rooms elsewhere.

It'd be nice to get a DVC member group togther donating together.

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

Mar - I didn't think I could give blood right now, but I read right that 6-8 weeks after delivery I can? (does it matter about it being a c-section?). I used to do pherisis (sp?) every few months and think I would like to start doing that again. Are the wait times for that different? (I would ask this in pm, but maybe the information will help someone else too )

Laura

Yep Laura, if you're up to it you can donate 6 weeks after you have your baby, unless you're anemic due to the delivery, and the health historian at the blood drive will know that when they check your hemoglobin.

Your doctor might have some objections due to the C-Section that I am not aware of, but as far as the blood center goes there is no distinction between a C-Section vs. a "standard" LOL delivery. It's probably good to check with your physician but I'm sure you'd do that anyway.

There is no difference whether you're doing a whole blood or apheresis, the criteria is the same. BTW apheresis is ALWAYS more needed than whole blood, if you have the extra time it takes for that, it would be wonderful. WTG for doing it in the past, a lot less people are willing to give up the time.

 

[lllovell]

When I did it in the past, it was quite convenient to my house (the big center in Atlanta I mean) so it was no biggie. I was also single which means more time as well. lol However, it was just as easy to me as giving blood. The employees there were fantastic, especially the phlebotomist. We just get caught up in our own little bubbles and I never got back into the habit after getting married and moving. This seems like a good time to examine whats important and what isn't!

Going to put this one back on the to do list!

Laura

 

[JimMIA]

This is probably a dumb idea, but is there anyway we could give dvc points to help someone stay for a while, maybe if we pooled them together. I guess it would be way to many points for us to be able to make a dent, but between s. florida, alabama, mississippi, la, there are a lot of homeless folks that a studio for a week would probably feel like heaven.

Not a dumb idea at all...probably the best idea any of us have had.

If someone will check with DVC and see how that can be accomplished, I'm certainly in. Should be just a matter of MS setting up a special account that we can each transfer points into.

If DVC will do that, I think you should start a new thread.

 

[GBKandN]

I already called about this. I posted it to a thread on another board I post to.

They told me to contact the Red Cross. I suppose I'll call my local chapter and see if it's possible to create a holding account for DVC points and then when a family is in need we'd have to contact DVC with our specific information in order to book facilities for them.

Seems complicate, but if we're willing, then aren't we also able.

I'm in if anyone else is.