Message from LCIF Chairperson Kusiak

Latest News on Hurricane Relief

Message from LCIF Chairperson Kusiak
The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida is deeply troubling. Our hearts go out to those who are suffering and face an uncertain future. We are acutely aware of the struggle for clean water, food and shelter, to say nothing of the need to be able to return to work and school.

LCIF will do all it can to help victims recover their lives. LCIF has awarded a US$200,000 Major Catastrophe Grant to help victims. I also have approved emergency grants for districts affected by the hurricane. Seven US$10,000 emergency grants have been awarded for affected districts. We expect many emergency grants to be approved very soon when district governors are able to contact us.

LCIF will focus its short-term relief in three areas: 1.) providing shelters with unmet substantial needs such as food, clothing, personal hygiene items and bedding, 2.) offering health services such as eyeglass distribution, and 3.) meeting needs of Lions camps and facilities housing victims of the disaster.

LCIF has set up a designated fund for Lions and others who wish to help the hurricane victims. Checks can be mailed to LCIF at 300 W. 22nd St., Oak Brook, IL 60523, USA. Make the check (drawn on a U.S. bank) payable to LCIF and indicate on the memo line that the donation is for Hurricane Katrina.

All donations for Hurricane Katrina count toward a club’s and district’s giving totals. (Donations from U.S. residents also are tax deductible.) Whether these donations are eligible for Melvin Jones Fellowship recognition is under consideration.

As with other large-scale disasters, I am sure Lions are eager to assist victims in various ways besides donating funds. To help facilitate the expected volunteer efforts of Lions, with the approval of the executive officers, I have appointed a steering committee of four leading Lions from the four states most affected by the tragedy to serve as liaisons between LCIF, Lions in the disaster areas and Lions who want to help.

These four Lions are:

• International Director Robert Eichhorn, 4301 St. Francis Street, Metairie, Louisiana, 70001, 337-237-7169 (temporary phone number), 504-525-7235 (business), 504-455-6951 (home), 504-525-7238, (fax), execdirector@llef.gs.net
• International Director Howard Jenkins, 850 Mt. Vernon Road, Columbus, Mississippi, 39702, 662-328-2756 (home number and fax), mailto:hjenkin@cable1.net.
• Past International Director Lowell Bonds, 1808 Hummingbird Lane, Hoover, Alabama, 35226, 205-322-6575 (business), 205-823-4941 (home), 205-328-3612 (fax), ljbonds@aol.com
• Past International Director E. Robert Lastinger, 29743 Morwen Place, Wesley Chapel, Florida, 33543, 813-994-9604 (residence), 813-994-0844 (fax), edbobl@earthlink.net.

I have asked Past International Director Bonds to oversee the steering committee for the purpose of coordinating short-term and long-term assistance for the hurricane victims.

Please keep in mind that they may difficult to reach, at least initially, because of disruption in services in the disaster areas as well as their heavy workload. Please keep trying to reach them.

We are aware that when tragedies of this magnitude strike, goods are collected and shipped to a disaster area that often are not needed and ultimately are not used. So please stay tuned for more information on this Web site regarding collection of goods as well as information for those wishing to volunteer.

You should also know that International President Ashok Mehta has issued a statement on the hurricane on the Lions’ Web site. Please take a minute to read his words of consolation and encouragement.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those in the affected areas. Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.

Yours in Service,
Clement F. Kusiak, 2005-2006 LCIF Chairperson

Latest News on Hurricane Relief
Lions in the affected states who have not been displaced themselves are feeding people at shelters, providing necessities such as toothbrushes and bedding and collecting funds to buy food and water for those at shelters. Lions from around the United States and far as far away as Germany and Thailand are collecting supplies and donating money to LCIF.

Lions in heavily damaged Districts 8-S and 8-N in Louisiana evacuated their homes as did the general population. Louisiana Lions in 8-L, several hours north of New Orleans and generally not directly touched by the disaster, are helping to take care of thousands of displaced people who left New Orleans and other places before the hurricane hit.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life and I never want to see it again,” said District Governor Ann Sanders of 8-L. “People came here with only the clothes on their back. We have babies who need diapers and food.”

Lions in her district have quickly collected at least US$3,500 so far to assist the refugees, said Sanders. Lions from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine have called her to offer help. The Lion from Maine who called is coordinating a shipment of two 18-wheelers of supplies. A Lion from Lafayette, La., is driving over with a car full of meat.

Lions are assisting at improvised non-Red Cross shelters that have sprung up. Lions also are helping out at larger venues such as the gym at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, which is holding some 2,000 displaced people. Lions also are feeding and clothing 160 Lions from southern Louisiana who fled north and took refuge at Louisiana Lions Children’s Camp in Leesville.

Some Lions have opened shelters in their capacity as a state or government employee. Vice District Governor Dinah Landry of 8-O is housing 500 displaced people in Cameron Parish, where she is head of the Council for Aging.

The ability of Lions in the devastated areas of Mississippi to offer aid to others is limited because of damage to their own homes. “Most of us have to clear debris around our own homes, clean out freezers of spoiled food and take care of other household duties that could not be addressed during the power outages,” Raymond Roberts of Brookhaven, Cabinet Secretary of District 30-I, wrote in an e-mail to LCIF. Gas shortages and loss of communication services also has made it difficult to launch a coordinated relief effort, he added.

Still, the Brookhaven Lions purchased $250 worth of paper plates, cups, napkins and toilet paper for two local shelters and gave children at four shelters oversized coloring books it had been selling as a fund-raiser. The Wesson Lions Club has been staffing a shelter at a community college set up for emergency electrical power workers.

Gregory Crapo of Gulfport, Cabinet Secretary for District 30-N, reported to LCIF that “basically [there is] nothing left to this area. Very few homes and businesses survived. The majority of our schools and churches have been destroyed. Many parents are already relocating to get their children into school before it is too late. There are no prospects for jobs because there are no businesses left.”

Yet Crapo said he and others remain undaunted. “Each day is a little better as power comes back to those buildings that are still standing,” he told LCIF. “I know the Lions are coming. We are getting contacts via various means from Lions and clubs all over the U.S. wanting to help. The local Lions are helping individually through the Red Cross and personal volunteering at the hospitals and distribution points.”

Lions in the affected states are using the LCIF Emergency Grants to issue vouchers to victims to purchase food, water and medicine. Government and civil resources are stretched to the limit in rural areas especially, and Lions are filling in gaps.

Supported by LCIF, the Texas Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center will distribute eyeglasses and offer eye care services to evacuees at the Astrodome in Houston and other nearby shelters. Fourteen Lions will work with the Houston Ophthalmological Society on the project.

“I cannot express my appreciation enough to the Lions who are supporting us in recovering from this disaster,” District Governor Robert Andrepont of 8-O wrote in an e-mail to LCIF. “LCIF was very helpful and timely with processing my grant application.  I have received e-mails with promises of support and prayer from around the world.  I cannot tell you how much we treasure our fellow Lions' thoughts and prayers.”

Lion leaders in the affected states are meeting over the next few days and plan to devise a more coordinated response to the tragedy.