RTP-area local music and culture

[joyce.ventimiglia AT gmail.com]

There are other ways to help those effected by Katrina besides donating
to the American Red Cross.

The Sparkplug Foundation has a great list of funding and volunteering
options with organizations that doing grassroots relief work that
focuses on people of color and poor people, especially groups that are
run by, or accountable to POC and economically devastated communities:

http://www.sparkplugfoundation.org/katrinarelief.html

Tides Foundation has a Rapid Response Disaster Relief Fund that
specializes in relief projects that serve those most in need and most
forgotten or disenfranchised from traditional relief organizations:

http://www.tidesfoundation.org/RR_0905.cfm


The League of Pissed Off Voters has a New Orleans Fund, of which 100%
of the money donated goes to their work of building a team of media,
organizing and advocacy-savvy Nawleans refugees who are ready to write
op-eds, fight, advocate, support their displaced neighbors during this
crisis, and work for New Orleans to be restored in a way that includes
the input of ordinary people!

https://secure.democracyinaction.org/dia/shop/indyvoter/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=80

New Orleans Network : In about 24-36 hours, the website that a whole
team of volunteer techies will be up to serve as a functional as a way
for people to connect with and support the New Orleans refugees in
their area, It will also be a way for New Orleans refugees to find each
other in their exile communities and organize to take back their city
and make sure that it is rebuilt in ways that serve ALL New Orleans
residents.  There will be exile community bulletin boards, discussion
boards, resource listings, advocacy how-to sheets, events calendars,
etc.

http://www.NewOrleansNetwork.org

Also, a friend of my has been writing columns in the Houston Chronicle:

http://blogs.chron.com/exile/

He's been working with http://www.neighborhoodstoryproject.org/ at John
McDonogh Senior High School, on Esplanade Ave. in New Orleans. He
taught students how to write books about their neighborhoods. The books
are amazing and he's going to continue documenting the stories of
Astrodome refugees. I have him and another friend up in Boston to thank
for collecting all this information -- I'm just passing it on.