What Corporate Media Won't Tell You About the Relief Effort

Food Not Bombs Won't Back Down www.bigmuddyimc.org
As relief efforts are finally being funneled down south to Mississippi and Louisiana, Food Not Bombs is at the crest of charitable and effective disaster relief, helping to feed and clothe thousands of displaced people staggered by the initial shock of Hurricane Katrina and reeling from the disgraceful aftershocks of those desperately waiting for help from local and federal government and social service agencies.


What sets Food Not Bombs apart from many of the relief agencies is that they will not be intimidated by military presence and will be helping those in need over long haul, well after the victims of this actual saga have been stricken from the front pages of newspapers and lead stories on television and radio.

Keith McHenry fields phone calls and inquiries coming in from Food Not Bombs in Tucson, Arizona and said in an interview today that the line has been ringing of the hook and that Food Not Bombs volunteers are "mobilizing like crazy."

Food Not Bombs has busloads of volunteers from all corners of this country delivering aid to the refugees. Buses are coming from St. Petersburg, Florida, Los Angeles, California Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Hartford, Connecticut, to name but a few. Those coming from the west coast are being directed to New Orleans and those coming from the east coast have been directed to Baton Rouge, a city which has doubled in population in only a few days from 300,000 to 600,000 as it strains to harbor many of the refugees.

McHenry was with Food Not Bombs during the San Francisco earthquake in 1989 and claimed that immediatley after the quake, FNB was the only organization providing relief on the spot. He also added that FNB has a solid reputation with many of the homeless people in New Orleans and are trusted to provide relief without any beurocratic hitches. Moreover, FNB does not make a habit of backing down from military restrictions, especially if it means that the displaced will go hungry.

Other organizations, including the Red Cross (read here), have been criticized for caving into military pressure, putting up beurocratic obstacles and denying donations of food and clothing in the face of those who need immediate assistance. The government has also denied readily available resources to those who can help the helpless (and here).

"The stories we get are just unbelievable," McHenry said of relief agencies being turned away by the military.
"Food Not Bombs does not put up with such nonsense."

Aside from providing immediate relief, FNB's goals are for long term relief as well. They will be setting up more chapters in the south so refugees can help themselves once the other relief organizations are gone.

"This project is planning to be going on for six months to a year," McHenry said.

McHenry also observed that based on his previous experiences with disaster relief, after the first two weeks of media attention, victims lose their special treatment status and become outcasts once again, making those who were already in dire circumstances worse off than before.

"Basically all these people are going to be kicked out of shelters and told that 'it's just too bad,'" he said. "[After the earthquake] there was a whole class issue that became very predominant and certain people got treated well and others were not allowed access to food.

"These people will get nothing and will be abused by the social service agencies. Our theory is that this is like a permanent crisis and for no less than six months, probably years, Food Not Bombs will always be around. The people are sick of what's going on [in New Orleans] and this was an obvious showing of the callousness and lack of respect the government has for its people."

Food Not Bombs and others, including anarchist organizations, are organizing very effectively. Right now, according to McHenry, hundreds and hundreds of people are donating money in small amounts to the FNB site, and he stressed that no donation is too small. McHenry also said that 100 percent of what gets donated to FNB goes for food relief and clothes, since it is a non-hierarchical all-volunteer organization with no beurocratic strings attached.

Jon Dyer is with the Food Not Bombs chapter based in Southern Illinois and has been working to see what they can do to help with the Katrina aftermath.

"We were just talking about circumventing the whole military issue," he said. "When seeing people in need - you go where they are gathered and you feed them. It's just that simple. [The government] just needs to cut the bullshit, get the food and feed the people."

As it stands, the local FNB is not in good shape to help immediately and directly, but will continue to concentrate on local efforts to feed the hungry.

"We're still relatively small," said Dyer, "but will be working on something. Each day that goes by is crucial, but we're not sure how to mobilize. We're all students, so it's not too realistic to pop down there."

But in the long term, Dyer said that FNB will not leave those in the lurch after the initial wave of charitable giving and work is finished.

"Their homes are gone and they do need that further assistance," he said. "It's really a sad situation."

[Note: Unfortuneately, efforts to contact FNB volunteers in Baton Rouge, Houston and New Orleans were unsuccessful. Any stories or first-hand information related to this story will be greatly appreciated and can be added to the comments section.]

Other Regional Efforts

Many other relief efforts are being made by secular, governmental, faith-based and activist organizations throughout Southern Illinois.

The Metropolis fire and police departments are collecting items and the Southern Illinois Community Foundation, headed by former Carbondale council person Maggie Flanagan, has cast a wide net so people who want to contribute funds can do so at many local banks. The foundation is also working with local schools that are also participating.

The state of Illinois has sent medical workers, family caseworkers, some national guardsmen and a variety of supplies to aid in the relief effort.

Southern Illinois University has also pledged their support for the victims of the post-Katrina disaster by providing housing and accepting students from schools ruined by the storm.

Also a group of locals have trekked to Murray, Ky., to directly bring supplies and support to refugees from New Orleans. Details and photos of this story coming soon. See also:
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/katrina.html
http://www.sicf.org

 

Bush should be prosecuted for breaking his own laws. How dare he push the blame on the states and deny our citizens the help they so desperately need. In writing he acknowledged the crisis that was at hand 2 days before the hurricane hit, and yet denies he knew there was a problem? He signed a statute claiming that the feds were to help the people. Well, where the fuck were they? How dare they intimidate those who try to help. Good for food not bombs.

 

Wait till people start realizing that the regime's "negligence" was actually planned by design.

 

what makes you think that changintimes?

 

Because Alex Jones says so.

 

Pointbreak, alex jones hasn't said anything of that sort...although i really havn't beeen to his site lately...

Edit: ok actually you were right...alex jones has an article about how some locals think that the levees were intentionally broken...I honestly do not believe this though, and I read the article and it really has no evidence of this, so I'm gonna need to disagree with Changintimes, unless you have some actual real reason to think that though...I don't see why they would want this to happen it's only made them look like a bunch of rich asshole politicians and has lowered Bush's approval rating a good amount.

 

This is a quote from a survivor in the dome...Like I have said before, I really havn't seen any evidence for some kind of conspiracy within this, and it probably isn't the right time to bring it up anyway, but this is a quote from a NOLA survivor and everyone should have the right to see it..." "The 17th street levee was bombed by the Army Corps of Engineers to save the more valuable real estate in the city... to keep the French Quarter protected, the ninth ward was sacrificed... people are afraid to speak out... everyone who was near there heard the bombings... they bombed seven times. That’s why they didn’t fix the levees... 20 feet of water. Gators. People dying in water. They let the parishes go, not the city center. Tourist trap was saved over human life. A six year old girl was raped in here.. 9 year old boy killed. A man in the shower beaten. No hot food. No help for elderly."

this is another..



"11:22 Now I’m speaking to someone else, another woman, who says some people report having witnessed "bomb sounds," believe 17th street levee and others were blown up to manage water flow and protect more valuable portions of real estate. Evacuee: "They blew the levee to save the city..." Saying a barge broke the levee. She is from St. Bernard Parish. "More expensive places were saved at the expense of the neighborhoods that aren’t as valuable... Rebuilding Bourbon Street matters more to the government... that’s what mattered to Governor Blanco..."

 

Pointbreak, you worthless numbskull, please don't answer for me again. Thank you.

I think so because I believe that the U.S. regime is attempting to transform our country into a police-military state and all the actions they are taking resemble the actions that would be taken from those who would WANT a police state. It's too obvious.

 

well it's interesting to see how this natural disaster befell this nation...New Orleans being the witchcraft and voodoo capital of the country....The Lord is sovereign.

 

and as far as a "police state" goes ......are you trying to say police country?well that's already a fact sadly enough.....the supreme court sees fit to interfere in the lives of medical marijuana patients but can't do much else it's sad....the answer is Jesus!He changed my life:he can change anyones...i was a heroin addict for 10 years i've been clean now for 2 and just made a 4.0 for summer semester in my second year of college.Jesus is the answer for the world today!!!!

 

The French Quarter was built on dry land that predated New Orleans' levee systems and sits 5 feet above sea level. It has nothing to do with where the levees were breached.

 

yeah you may be right...i just thought people should see those quotes...