A Plea for Care Packages

So I was talking to my LA-living, wedding-photo-studio-working-older-sister-Ariel the other day and she asked me what I could use or missed in terms of care packages.

I was standing in the backroom laundry area, lit only by the sun streaming in the windows, pulling out the warm piles of my teammate's towels.

And it hit me.

I didn't need anything.

How could I? I had a place to sleep, plenty of food (even though we can't afford desserts ;( ) and clean lungs. I really, for the first time in my life, was content with the fact that I didn't need ANYTHING.

Ariel pressed me. She had just purchased a pair of extremely cute summer sandals. Was I really sure that I didn't need anything? A magazine? Some candy?

There's really nothing, I said. And repeated. No tempt of material position could sway me. Now, this really did make me sad. I love things. But here, I wear a uniform. I don't even know what the trends are for this season.

And now I understand a bit why people in nonprofits dress so poorly. It, sigh, just doesn't matter as much.

Lesson learned.

HOWEVER, there are some things that you can send if you really want to. Wal-mart (I hate them but sometimes you have to go through the devil to do good work) cards, Home Depot Cards, laptops (FEMA keeps threatening to take these away from our organization), a car, cell phones and a family plan (FEMA keeps threatening to take our away)or well, money. The Red Cross and Salvation Army, as well as the state of Mississippi, have MILLIONS of dollars given to them by both taxpayers as the government that they aren't spending. Really. So if you're looking for a good organization, I'm working at it.

Operation TLC- Helps triage clients in terms of getting them various grants and access to resources. Also houses and manages volunteers from across the country that work on skilled and unskilled projects in clients homes.

Mississippi Home Again- Takes donations of clothes, household objects, and especially focuses on beds and appliances to give clients the freedom and independence that they had prior to Katrina.

My address here is:
2935 Pascagoula St.
Pascagoula, MS 39567

This is totally FYI. Use this info as you want. I'm doing what I can here, and I hope that if you want to help, you will in your own way. This is just a suggestion if you're looking for a good cause.