Aug 29, 2008 4:35 pm US/Pacific
SoCal Groups Send Aid To Gulf Coast Hit By Gustav
LOS ANGELES
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A long line of cars evacuate from Tropical Storm Gustav Aug. 29, 2008 in Luling, La.
Stephen Morton/Getty Images
As Hurricane Gustav bears down on the Gulf Coast, two local relief agencies announced Friday that they are prepared to deploy truckloads of aid to the area.
World Vision, a Monrovia-based Christian relief and development agency, and Operation USA, an international disaster relief agency based in Culver City, are pledging monetary and material aid, if needed.
World Vision's Los Angeles storehouse has several truckloads of drinking water, bedding, personal hygiene items, clothing and toys and cleaning supplies for the recovery phase.
The items, donated by two companies, Unilever and Legasse, are valued at $50,000 to $150,000.
World Vision staff and about 75 volunteers helped sort the items, which are to be distributed through partner organizations to families in need.
"We'll be pre-positioned to respond and back up the efforts of our other storehouses," said Phyllis Freeman, the Southern California area director, who will also be on call to travel to the devastated areas and manage relief efforts.
Other World Vision storehouses ready to deploy aid are in Picayune, Miss., and Dallas, Texas, she said.
Meanwhile, at Operation USA's international headquarters in Culver City, a staff of 11 is working with communities likely to be affected by the storm on Monday and Tuesday.
"We are partnering with established networks of community health clinics which are working around the clock to anticipate needs resulting from a major storm with 15-30-foot storm surges necessitating the possible evacuation of millions of people," said Operation USA President Richard Walden. "These clinics were and are partners of Operation USA since hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the south three years ago today."
The agency will distribute mainly medical and shelter supplies, along with medicine. Small cash grants will be distributed to clinics on as-needed basis.
Walden said there is concern that the new storm could bash the Gulf Coast before it has fully recovered from the earlier storms.
"The response by FEMA to hurricanes Katrina and Rita was and still is inadequate," he said. "There was misrule by government at all levels, and it is up to the community-based organizations, foundations and companies to ensure that this time there are adequate safety measures in place to mitigate the effects of this so-far devastating storm."
Operation USA sent $2.5 million in grants and $14 million in material aid to partner with nonprofit clinics, schools and other community-based nonprofits when Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005 and Rita less than a month later.
Donations can be made at Operation USA by calling (800) 678-7255.
Donations to World Vision can be made by calling its American Families Assistance Fund at (888) 56-CHILD.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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