Howie Luvzus

I’ve launched NOLA Rescue to help Katrina victims. It has a lot of great links to organizations that are helping rebuild New Orleans.

Blogging has become increasingly challenging for me. What do I write about? If I demonstrate that a certain group isn’t doing their job, someone hits me with the fact that someone else isn’t doing their job either. THANKS SCOOP! No one is doing a great job except those who are actually working. The Red Cross is doing a really crappy job, but the volunteers fed me and gave me MREs. FEMA’s doing a crappy job, but I did get a check. The New Orleans police & Firefighters, the Army, the National Guard have all done very well, but there has been mass confusion as well.

I could write 24 hours a day about good things and bad things. I still wouldn’t get a lot done and say all I want to say because I’m on FREAKIN’ DIAL-UP!
But here’s the thing…Last night, Shirley and I watched Howie Jr play football! He’s on the football team here at the locat high school. They call him “hurricane boy” or “New Orleans” (sure beats Katrina!) and have shown a great deal of southern hospitality. We had a blast. We would not have this opportinuty in New Orleans because only a raving lunatic would want to go through spring practice in the New Orleans heat and somehow swatting mosquitoes during a football game seems totally inappropriate to me.

Dial-up has shown me how little my opinion matters. Katrina has shown me what’s truly important. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

I’ll post more later, but for now—-Do not send money to the Red Cross!

Send it to the Salvation Army.

My highest recommendation is to the following organization—They are great folks and they are helping the poor in New Orleans NOW. And they don’t require you to dial an 800 number that NO ONE IS ANSWERING!—-Common Ground Make a personal donation to Don Elbourne, pastor of Lakeshore Baptist Church:
Pastor Don A Elbourne Jr
1451 Great Oak
Baton Rouge,LA 70810

You can make a direct donation through–His Website
I know there are a lot of scams out there, but trust me on this one. Don is one of the most caring guys I know.

Myth #1-FEMA was slow to respond in the beginning, but they are doing a good job now. NO! It took a great deal of prayer for me to keep from “flipping off” a FEMA truck that I passed on my way out of New Orleans.

On Friday (I think) of last week I was in St Charles Parish and I saw a long line of people. I stopped to see what was going on. I asked a lady with two little kids what the line was for. She said she was waiting for FEMA assistance. Dumb, insensitive me said, “The internet is a lot faster. I’ve already received my check.” She gave me an exasperated look and said, “I don’t have the internet.” OOOPS. She said that she had been in line for eight hours. You can’t really understand how horrible that is. The heat index was well over a 100 I would guess. Her kids were soaking wet with sweat, exhausted and cranky. I went to my van and gave them candy, cokes and water. People in line asked me if I had any more to share. I emptied my van of all of my supplies. I also had two cases of water that had not been iced down. The people were so hot that they gladly took the warm water. I prayed for those folks as I drove away and cursed FEMA for opening up a place with (from what I was told) only four people to process claims.

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