crucial

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this is a mirror of very useful information that keiko has been collecting and
emailing to lots of us. many emails have circulated, and in some cases the original
sender or compiler of the information has been lost, though there is often an email
contact on there. i have edited and grouped things a much as i could. - cx.

---

12pm sunday, 16th

Most of the volunteer centers are overwhelmed with volunteers and donations.
If you have welding skills etc. you should call.

well, but norman yamada reports from the point of view as a volunteer..

Subject:Re: update
Date:Sat, 15 Sep 2001 22:51:42 -0400
From:Norman Yamada

Sorry to be so late with this. I've been volunteering with the American
Red
Cross. If you want to help, they can use volunteers -- but be warned, it
takes a while. You have to take a 4 hour class at 150 Amsterdam Avenue
(66th
St) to be a LDV (local disaster volunteer). If you get past that, you
may get
an assignment to staff a ERV (that's a food van near ground zero) or
(less
likely) to work at their shelters or data entry in Brooklyn (near High St).

The work's not glamorous, but there seems to be a bunch of it. I've been
there most of yesterday and today wiring their computer network(s)
together.
I think they're going to need volunteers for a good long while. You can
call
the Main office at 877-733-2767 and find out where you go to be a LDV; I
walked in on Thursday to 150 Amsterdam, but now think most processing is
being done at the Brooklyn Office at Camden Plaza East (right by the A
train
at High Street).

---

1pm saturday, 15th

tv stations are saying that there are more than enough donations, and more than enough
volunteers for right now. it is causing logistical problems. food has been coming
in from all over the country and is being distributed to homeless shelters.
salvation army says they will need people on tuesday.

I think that maybe Javits center is overflowing, but this list was just published with
different locations. It might be good to bring stuff there, or it might be best to
wait until the middle of the week when the need will grow again. only 1% of the building
has been removed.

DONATIONS

The United Way set up a fund
to aid victims and their families. The fund will be
a conduit for money being
distributed to established emergency assistance
agencies like the Red Cross and
other nonprofit groups. Contributions may be
sent to the September 11th
Fund, in care of the United Way, 2 Park Ave., New
York, N.Y. 10016, 212-251-4035,
or through the United Way Web site,
www.uwnyc.org.

Chelsea Piers - Pier 59
Triage needs masks with respirators; hard hats;
kleenex; goggles; markers;
oxygen tanks; benzoine spray; baby powder;
neosporin; antibacterial soap;
atrovet nebulizer 2.5; toothbrushes; otoscope;
antibiotics; albuterol/md
inhalers; flashlights; batteries; ice and coolers.

The Salvation Army Disaster
Relief Collection Station needs clothes, gloves,
pants, socks, food and water.
Go to the Carmel Fire Department, located on
Route 52, in Carmel, N.Y.,
Saturday, Sept. 15 and Sunday, Sept. 16 from 7 a.m.
to 7 p.m.

Chelsea Market: 88 10th
Avenue and 75 Ninth Avenue, between 15th and 16th
Streets, is calling for the
folling unused items: saline solution; socks; masks;
gloves; sheets; goggles;
bandaids; single serve beverages (ie: Power Aid and
juice boxes.)

New Jersey Food Bank: 31
Evans Terminal Road Hillside. Contact: Kate
Leonard 908-355-3663 ext. 253.
Hours: Thursday; Friday; Monday and Tuesday
- 8am to 8pm; Saturday - 9am to 2pm

Exchange Place in Jersey City
needs volunteers to sort supplies to be
distributed to relief workers.
Volunteers should go to the site at the foot of
Hudson Street.

Call (845) 359-9758 to make
donations through the Blauvelt Volunteer Fire
Company and the S.W. Johnson
Fire Company. Ask for Dave.

Drop of donations on Staten
Island at Miller Field #38. Call 718-351-6933 for
hours.

Drop of donations at Bartolo
Chiropractic in Nassau County, located at 100
Hicksville Rd. in Massapequa.
Call 516-799-5407 for hours.

---

5pm friday, 14th

hello,
jana martin just called in from chelsea piers.
they got substantial amount of donation in a short period of time. (!great!)
so at this moment, they don't need anything.
please check in for the coming week though.
as i said before the supply should keep coming little by little for a
prolonged time.

you can also check other shelter locations if they need anything for
this moment.

---

as for working as volunteer, it seems that they still need hands.
but assuming most of volunteers going there for daytime work, i think
nite time workers would be more in demand.
well, please walk by & ask.

thanx for all.
keiko

---

*(& here's the important message arrived via my friend, jana martin.)
(i think that you shouldn't drop the items to other shelters...
since the
chelsea piers & javits center
are the places where those rescue
workers etc. directly gets things. they don't have enough delivery cars. so deliver to
those places by yourself, if you can...

For people having difficulty getting to Chelsea with supplies... the
Community Bookstore @ 143 7th Ave. in Park Slope has set itself up as a
transfer station for the below mentioned donations.

Subject:urgent need for WTC donations today
Date:Fri, 14 Sep 2001 05:41:56 -0700 (PDT)
From: M Martin cpscnyc@yahoo.com
To:janamart@rcn.com

As of 7:15 a.m. Friday the 14th, the following
specific supplies are desperately needed here for
deployment to the firefighters and rescue workers!!!!
Do NoT under any conditions deliver items not listed
here, unless you have seen a specific request for them
elsewhere !!!
Please deliver to Chelsea Piers or to the Javits
center, whichever is closer.
The clothing we need is for larger sized men.

• backpacks
  * ponchos / raingear

• goggles
  * inhalers for asthma
  * butterfly band-aids
  * first aid instant blood clotters
  * cold medicine
  * aa batts
  * 8x10 bandages
  * pfr 95 dust masks
  * betadine
  * flashlights
  * immodium a-d
  * prepaid cellphones
  * immitrex
  * tylenol/acitominophen
  * natural tear eye drops
  * socks
  * chapstick/lip balms
  * cell phone chargers
  * baby oil
  * tums antacid

• Raingear / Ponchos
  * Umbrellas
  * Larger-sized Workboots
  * Larger-sized Sweats
  * Towels
  * Long-sleeved T-shirts
  * Socks
  * Heavy - duty work gloves

• Ice
  * Cigarettes

• Eye wash

Many thanks - The support team at the Chelsea Piers
CPSNYC@yahoo.com

---

hello everyone.
thanx for many replies! & i'm very glad so many are o.k.
(worrying some other people who haven't responded.. hoping they are simply
experiencing hard time to get online...)
anyway, i received a very well-documented & detailed mail about giving help
to injured people, all aides to rescue people, doctors/nurses, and all
related workers.
as described below,
**
bring bottles of water, sandwich packed individually in ziplok, sports
drink,
energy water... they'd need it. & keep going back to shelters everyday
as possible!

(people are storming to help right now. but tendency is that it'd fade
out after a week or so. it shouldn't be! the recovery process would take maybe months!)

****

so i'm sending it to all of you. hoping it'd help more for you to reach out!
(& believe me it's very, very important!!)
o.blaat (keiko u.)

first of all, i went to chelsea piers last nite, to deliver bottles of gatorade.
as soon as i arrived there (17th st. & 11th ave. - so you can easily
walk there
from 8th avenue station of L train, or any M14 buses), i was handed with
cans of sodas,
big bags of ice, etc. & i found myself pushing carts back & forth,
carrying stuff etc.
nobody asks your name. there are too much work to do. everybody
including many young
people, working really hard there. they really can use your hand there
day & nite!
(some of volunteers had name scribbled with magic marker on duct tape
pasted on their
t-shirt. so if you identify your name w/o asking each other, paste your
name too.
it would save time to waste.)
i was way exhausted even before going there so i stayed there only for 2
hours.. but i'm gonna charge my
energy today & will go back there tonite to work more.
i saw bunch of kids standing & waving flags to police cars, emergency
cars, & fire cars.
it was very, very stupid to see them just waving flags, showing off some banners
(something like 'you are our heros! we love you!!' or something) &
cheering for a very long time.
(same people were there on the way i was going to pier & on the way
coming home from there.)
they should just help the pier with that energy. idiots!

take care & let's help all together.
o.blaat (keiko)

***
Thanks to everyone who has bounced back with information from the front. The
following is information on critical supplies and food donations needed for
relief workers, another way to donate to the Red Cross, advice for those
living downtown, a list of the most current hotline numbers for friends and
family searching for loved ones, etc. Please forward to your lists and pitch
in any way you can. Please. - Nicole B.

----------------------------------------
URGENTLY NEEDED SUPPLIES
My friend Sue is volunteering at Ground Zero, at the canteen/relief area for
the firefighters, rescue workers and police. They have very specific
needs to
get them through this, so if you want to help, here's what to donate:

DRINKS: They love Gatorade especially (it goes the fastest at the
distribution centers), sports drinks, juice, two liter bottles water,
especially the vitamin waters, and sodas. Cans and small bottles or even the
juice boxes are preferred, except for the water, which they need in two liter
bottles if possible, for the extremely fatigued and dehydrated rescue
workers. They do not have cups, so individual containers are most useful.

FOOD: Sandwiches. All kinds. If you are bringing sandwiches, wrap them in
cellophane, saran wrap or tin foil; ziplock baggies are best, and if you can
PLEASE mark them with what they are. So many sandwiches were donated,
unmarked and wrapped only in paper towels and by the time they got to the
site, they were in terrible shape and had to be thrown away. They don't need
candy bars, but I"m sure energy bars will be. Packaged items like cookies,
chips, popcorn, pretzels etc are appreciated. Yes on fruit like oranges,
apples, bananas, but nothing else perishable or delicate or that needs
preparation, no tins or cans of soup (they have no way to open, heat and
serve them). Think picnic for one or a kid's school lunch, with no forks or
spoons or heating needed.

OTHER: Ice, construction helmets, heavy duty gloves and goggles, flashlights,
batteries, Band aids, Advil, over the counter medications, vitamins, eye
drops, and lots of socks. Trolleys, or shopping carts, so they can pack
stuff in and move it. If you have an old shopping cart you can donate them,
that would be tremendous to help them move supplies from place to place.
Bring them to donation centers in your area and they will be brought downtown
to Ground Zero.

If you want to help or bring your donations down yourself, volunteers should
go to the west side highway and walk down, around North Moore. Don't ask the
cops where to go or whom to check in with, since they really don't know and
they have other things to do. Sue says ask civilians "What can I do to help?
Who should I talk to?" and they'll pretty much point you out to one of the
relief centers/canteens. She's become rather well known in the area, so ask
for the tall blonde, Sue, and you may find her yourself. Tell her I sent you
and she'll get you to work right away.

For anyone hoping to make it to the morgue on the west side highway to make
relief donations to the workers there, that has basically been shut. The
bodies are going on the boats out. Brooks Brothers downtown has now also
been turned into a morgue.

REMEMBER: Keep it coming all week. Don't donate everything tomorrow and say
"I did a lot on Thursday, so I'm done." They will need donations all week,
perhaps for weeks. Donations in dribs and drabs are probably better than a
massive dump all at once, so there is a steady flow of food and supplies.
"The dent we made today is nothing compared to what we need," says Sue. "We
had massive amounts of stuff this morning and it's all gone. Gone. Next week
those relief workers will still need supplies and something to eat."

Many of these relief workers are on 12-14 hour shifts, and a turkey sandwich,
bottle of Gatorade, an orange, and perhaps a clean pair of socks may not
sound like much, but will be so appreciated by someone doing the hardest work
of their lives.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
VOLUNTEER:
the Red Cross of NY has a form so anyone interested in volunteering can fill
out at their website so they'll have you on file when/if they need you.
http://www.nyredcross.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exhausted. More tomorrow. Please help.

Nicole

---

RELIEF EFFORTS:
Civilians volunteers report to
Jacob Javitz Center on 34th St. and 11th avenue

DONATIONS: Dry Clothes, Sheets, Towels, Ice Coolers Medical Supplies, Water.
Chelsea Piers, 23rd St/West Side Highway
Shea Stadium, at the Press Gate
77 Bleecker St (btw b'way and lafayette)

OFFICE SPACE DONATIONS jason.calacanis@venturereporter.net 646.473.2201

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