News from Cambridge Health Alliance

The following press releases were received by The Everett Mirror from Cambridge Health Alliance. We thought we'd share them with you:

WILLIAM D. HART JOINS CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Medford, Revere, Somerville, Winthrop, MA….Francis H. Duehay, Chair of the Trustees of Cambridge Health Alliance (the Alliance) announced today the appointment of William D. Hart , a life-long resident of Everett, to the Alliance’s Joint Hospital Board which governs the three Cambridge Health Alliance hospitals-The Whidden Memorial Hospital, the Somerville Hospital, and the Cambridge Hospital.

“Mr. Hart’s experience in public and private management and communications will strengthen the diversity and skills of the Joint Hospital Board. He is a leader in several of the communities that we serve with ties to volunteer and charitable organizations and the business community. He will complement others already on the board to strengthen the mission of the Alliance to help communities become and stay healthy, to care for people when they are ill, and to teach health professionals to work in diverse communities,” said Duehay, Chair of the Trustees.

William D. Hart is currently deputy director of the Massachusetts Community Colleges Executive Office. He previously served as vice president of communications at Bunker Hill Community College, and is a member of the adjunct faculty at the college. He received his BA from Merrimack College, and his Master’s degree in Public Administration from Suffolk University.

Mr. Hart is a recent distinguished past president of the Chelsea Kiwanis Club, executive vice president of the of Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, and the first vice president of the Everett Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Metro North Regional Employment Board. Mr. Hart also serves on the Cambridge Health Alliance Foundation Board.
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Benefit performance for katrina survivors

Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Medford, Revere, Somerville, Winthrop, MA… Cambridge Health Alliance [The Alliance] will present a benefit performance by a children’s theatre companies of adaptations of Dr. Seuss stories at the Macht auditorium, in the Macht Building on the campus of Cambridge Hospital, 1493 Cambridge Street, Sunday October 9, 2005 from 3 to 5 p.m. Voluntary donations ($5 children/$10 adults recommended) will be matched up to $1000 by The Alliance. To reserve tickets, RSVP to Edricka Bain, 617-665-1132 (x1132). Proceeds including the matching dollar amount will be given to the American Red Cross. The stories are The Butter Battle Book and Yertle the Turtle, directed by CHA pediatrician Dr. Somava “Soma” Stout. The actors come from the Lexington-based Children’s Theater Company of Greater Boston. They have performed these two stories at a 9/11 commemorative event in Boston, and will take the show to Otis Air Force Base for the refugee children there on Sept. 24. Dr. Stout is an active adult medicine/pediatrician and medical director at Revere Family Health Center, instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School, in charge of the hospitalist program at Whidden Memorial Hospital in Everett -- and an elementary school parent! Cambridge Health Alliance has designated three medical teams on standby for hurricane relief in Louisiana and for the displaced families at Otis. CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE is a regional healthcare system with three hospitals and more than twenty primary care practices in Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston’s metro-North communities. As a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Health Alliance offers medical residency/training programs and undergraduate learning experiences in hospital and community settings. Cambridge Health Alliance also includes the Cambridge Public Health Department, CHA Physicians Organization (CHAPO), and Network Health, a managed Medicaid plan.
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NOTABLE JOURNALIST JOINS CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE

Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Medford, Revere, Somerville, Winthrop, MA….Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) announced today that Mark Zanger has joined the staff as Media Relations Manger. Zanger steps into the role with over two decades of solid journalism, PR, and advocacy experience. He has worked on several newspapers. Highlights include; editor–in-chief of The Real Paper, op-ed Editor for the Middlesex News (now MetroWest Daily News), feature writer at The Boston Herald, and in the Internet community, he was chief editor of Delphi Internet. He has previously done PR for Oxfam America and advocacy for the Mass Association for Bilingual Education and serves on the boards of two mental health groups – Parent Professional Advocacy League & Mood and Anxiety Disorder Institute Resource Advisory Board. He is the author of two books about culinary history.

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CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE VP DONNA FOX WINS MODERN HEALTHCARE'S 2005 “UP& COMER” AWARD

Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Medford, Revere, Somerville, Winthrop, MA….
Donna K. Fox, Vice President of Government Affairs for the Cambridge Health Alliance (The Alliance), is a 2005 winner of the “Up & Comer” award of Modern Healthcare magazine. Only 12 health care executives in the nation received this honor. Co-sponsored by the executive search firm Witt/Kieffer, the award recognizes “rising stars in healthcare management 40 years of age and under.”

“I’m thrilled to see this national recognition for the job Donna Fox has done to benefit the Alliance and our service communities,” said Alliance CEO Dennis D. Keefe. “She has worked at the Alliance for nine years, and has been central to our growth and the strengthening of our mission over that time. I created her VP position to provide focus and expertise to the challenge of navigating the legislative and regulatory environments. With 80 percent of our patient revenue coming through government-funded programs, Donna Fox is a big part of keeping the doors open.”

Fox joined the newly merged Cambridge and Somerville hospitals in 1996 to coordinate the indigent care program. Not long after, Medicaid expanded and Fox was a principal architect in the design and launch of CHA’s Medicaid health plan, Network Health. In 2001, Fox became a principal member of the Whidden Memorial Hospital (WMH) acquisition team, serving as a key negotiator and working to save the two affiliated psychiatric units, which were at risk of closing.

In 2003, Fox became CHA’s first vice president of government affairs. In this capacity, she has focused on funding and supporting policy directions in Medicaid, Medicare, the state’s Uncompensated Care Pool, public health programs, and federal appropriations

The Facts: The "Cook" in the "Kitchen"

We're going into "Dragnet" mode (just the facts, ma'am). You may draw your own conclusions.

John Cook Dowd is a retired "public relations" representative for the Everett Public Schools system. A resident of Watertown, he is known for the many ads and brochures that he has created for the superintendent of schools. He was one of a number of administrative employees that had worked for the superintendent for years without ever appearing in the school budget, a problem noted in the state auditor's report. Upon questioning during the budget process this year, the superintendent informed the city council that Mr. Dowd was retiring and his position didn't need to be budgeted.

John Dowd, at the same address in Watertown, appears in the Committee to Elect John Hanlon campaign finance report, earning $4000 as a "consultant" during the summer.

John Cook Dowd is now quietly back on the payroll of the school department as of September, despite his "retirement."

Questions:

1. Why did the school committee allow Fred to rehire Mr. Dowd without benefit of the budget process?

2. When did the school committee vote on it? Are there other "additions" that the public doesn't know about?

3. Is it true that no one ever really retires from the Everett school department - they merely come back as consultants?

4. Does this mean that the superintendent is involved with John Hanlon's campaign?

5. When will the Independent, the Leader Herald and the Advocate ask these questions publicly?

Happy Birthday, Everett Mirror!

The Everett Mirror is officially one-year old, as of September 14.

One year ago, we got together and decided to write about the issues that affect this community - whether at the city, state or federal level. We felt that there were issues that were going unrecognized by the local media, and thought we would provide a forum to address them. All-in-all - it's been a pretty good year. We've had some great successes - and a few not so great posts. We've tried to be fair and thoughtful. We've also had some incredibly insightful comments - and some comments that were so venomous or libelous that we had to remove them. While we will always sympathize with people's frustrations, if you can't back it up with facts - it won't be tolerated in The Mirror.

So, happy birthday to us! Many thanks to the 21 thousand people plus who have visited our site in the last year! They come from all over the country!

Ragucci Takes Primary!!

Congratulations to Mayor David Ragucci for his Primary victory! Ragucci took the top spot in the Primary with 2895 votes over Hanlon's 2501. Alderman Mike Marchese limped into third place with a disappointing 736 votes.

Ragucci was able to achieve this victory in spite of a barrage of negativity coming from both the Hanlon (aided by sources closed to the Superintendent) and Marchese camps, and the Mayor's record of accomplishment and his focus on the positive seems to have paid off for now. Hanlon is now wounded, and it will be interesting to see whether those wounds sideline him, mellow his approach, or intensify the venom with which he seems to have chosen (or allowed) to run his campaign.

The big surprise of the night (even bigger, we think, than Marchese's embarrassingly poor showing) was Wayne Matewsky taking the top spot in the primary for Alderman at Large. A late comer into the race, Matewsky was able to pull out a primary victory with, according to the Everett Independent, 2031 votes to incumbent Alderman Carlo DeMaria's 1779 votes and Ward One Councilman Peter Napolitano's 1715.

These two races promise to provide lots of "excitment" for November. It will be interesting to see how much "negative" campaigning is used. The Mayor, no doubt, will continue to take the high road, focusing on the accomplishments of the administration. The Hanlon campaign, if it continues to be aided and abetted by certain sources known for going for the jugular, will provide more of the same negativity with very little substance focused on Hanlon's accomplishments or his plans for the future of the City. Matewsky will use his 25 years of public service as his platform, and DeMaria may very well fall into the trap of negativity that has crippled so many before him.
Fasten your seatbelts . . . it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

Convenient Symbolism

Remember all those months ago when the Mayor called on city government to support him in sending a letter to the School Committee recommending that they put the indicted Superintendent on administrative leave? And remember when the Board of Aldermen rejected the Mayor's request, stating that they have no control over what the School Committee does and that to support such a recommendation would be, as Alderman Van Campen put it, a "meaningless symbolic gesture"?

Well . . . it would appear that at least one member of the Board has gotten over that notion.

Alderman Jason Marcus has put a resolution on the calendar for tonight's meeting that the "Board of Aldermen support Governor looking into gas gouging laws where prices have gone out of control throughout the Commonwealth." Talk about your meaningless symbolic gesture. Does the Board of Aldermen have any more control over this subject than they had over what the School Committee could do about the Superintendent? Of course the Board supports investigating price gouging throughout the State, and this is a nice way for them to get a little ink during a troubled time. The difference here is -- this is easy. Taking a stand against the Superintendent required backbone, and the members of the Board of Aldermen left theirs at home that night.

It'll be interesting to how many members of the Board stand tonight to support this particular convenient symbolism.

Primary Day

In less than 24 hours, the polls will open for Primary Day 2005, where we will choose who will make it to the final election in November in the races for Mayor and for Alderman at Large.

This Primary Day is coming on the heels on what has to be one of the ugliest and nastiest mayoral races in the history of this city. While many thought that milestone had been hit during the McCarthy-Connolly battle back in the 1980's, and even the last Mayoral election in 2003 got pretty ugly, this latest round of attack ads seems to have raised the venom to a new high. Will it work or will it backfire?

There is also a three way race for Alderman at Large -- with incumbent Carlo DeMaria, Ward One Councilman Peter Napolitano, and with a late entry into the race, Ward One Councilman Wayne Matewsky vying for the two spots that would take them into November. Matewsky would appear to be winning the sign wars right now, but as the old saying goes, "signs don't vote" -- as many a politician has discovered in the past. This will be an interesting race to watch.

Tomorrow is an important day. Remember to go out and vote.

Remembering 9/11

Four years ago this morning, the unspeakable happened. American citizens were attacked on their own soil when Al Qaeda terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and one plane headed for the White House was crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.

As our country continues to reel from the latest tragedy in the South, let us not forget the civilians who lost their lives that day and the police and firefighters who sacrificed themselves to save others. Let us not forget the families of the victims who live with the horror of that day every day. May God keep the souls of the victims close to Him and protect those left behind.

Have Labor Day Off? Thank the Unions!

Well, another Labor Day is upon us. Summer has flown by; already the daylight hours are getting shorter. While the summer stretched out endlessly before us on the 4th of July, there is already a feeling of fall in the air, with the rays of the sun barely burnishing our noses. Yes, it's nearly over, but we still have Labor Day.

Labor Day is more than just another three day weekend. While many commentators are predicting the demise of organized labor, I see only growing pains. After all, Everett is a "labor city"- where else but here to witness its evolution? Far from obsolete, organized labor should be thanked for every fight it ever won. Do you enjoy a forty hour work week? Thank the unions. Do you have paid vacation and sick time? Thank the unions. Have reasonable health insurance? Thank the unions. Do you work in a reasonably safe and clean environment? Thank the unions. These benefits that are such an integral part of our work culture were once unheard of.

Everett it a union city and proud of it. Why shouldn't we be? Unions have been good for Everett workers and Everett workers have been good for unions. And if you think the time of unions has passed--think again. Across the country, scandals at Enron, Worldcom, KMPG, Bristol Meyers Squibb and many others have opened the eyes of working men and women. Not content to defraud their investors, some of these companies have raided their pension funds, leaving retirees with pennies on the dollars. This is a golden opportunity for unions to increase their standing with not only their membership through eagle sharp oversight of pension funds and other benefit and quality of life issues, but also to investors, who could surely use another pair of eyes looking at the bottom line. Someone needs to "mind the store" and it's clear that these companies can't or won't mind themselves, not when greed rules the day.

Like having Labor Day off? Thank a union. Have a good weekend, everyone!

Of Course It's Politics!

Several days ago there were a couple of stories in the papers: one regarding the next leg of the internal audit taking place in the City Clerk's office and the second regarding the vacat56n b4y-back out of unused vacation time to the City Auditor. Both stories "broke" just a few weeks prior to the upcoming Mayoral primary, and the Ragucci and Hanlon camps are both claiming that the release of these stories is "political."

No kidding. Political? Hold on, everyone, because the next thing you know, they'll be telling us that there's no Santa Claus and that Elvis is really dead.

Now . . . let's take a look at these two stories.

First of all -- the story about the next leg of the audit taking place in the City Clerk's office could only have been considered newsworthy once the audit is completed; the only reason this story ran was to be able to point a finger of suspicion at the City Clerk. The "revelations" in this story -- that proper procedures in the reporting of fees to the Treasurer as required by law were not being followed -- isn't exactly latebreaking news. These findings were published in the annual city audit in 2000 and 2001. There was some noise made about them during the 2003 election, but again it was brushed aside as "politics" during an election year. However, the allegations are not insignificant if you consider that there have been other procedural deficiencies noted in the recent state audit conducted as a result of the indictments of the Superintendent and the Maintenance Director at the School Department. And if -- and we emphasize if -- there is suspicion that a department head is pocketing fees that he should be reporting through other channels within City Hall, as required by Mass General Law, at the very least it needs to be investigated. This is true not just in the City Clerk's office during an election year, but at whatever time the suspicion arises. The City Clerk should deal with it, especially if, as he claims, he has done nothing wrong.

Next is the story of a buyback of unused vacation time to the City Auditor, who has been employed by this administration for less than two years, although he was employed for more than seven years during a previous administration, and this previous time worked counts towards his current seniority. It is not unusual for an employee to "negotiate" certain aspects of his employment, particularly at this managerial level, including additional vacation time. What is unusual is that unused vacation time would be "paid out" while the person is still employed. The general rule of thumb is that any unused vacation time gets carried over to the next year, with the approval of the Mayor. This did not happen in this instance, and while it's not illegal (as John Hanlon claimed to the Boston Globe), it is, at the very least, unfair to those who are required to carry over their vacation time when it might be a nice bonus for them to be able to cash out at the end of the year. It was not the wisest administrative decision (particularly when the mayor negotiates all those contracts again) and whether you believe the Mayor's explanation or not, the reality is -- it's his responsibility. He should accept it, decide what, if anything, is going to be done about it, and move on.

What it all comes down to is this . . . it's an election year. Things that might've been handled quietly 12 months ago are now going to be front page news, blown out of proportion, elevated to the level of scandal, all in the name of convincing the electorate that the other guy is no good.

It's time for all parties to grow up. It's time for people to stand up and take responsibility for their actions. It's time for people to take their medicine and move on.

Righteous Anger

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin blasted the slow pace of federal and state relief efforts in an expletive-laced interview with local radio station WWL-AM.

The following is a transcript of WWL correspondent Garland Robinette's interview with Nagin on Thursday night. Robinette asked the mayor about his conversation with President Bush:

NAGIN: I told him we had an incredible crisis here and that his flying over in Air Force One does not do it justice. And that I have been all around this city, and I am very frustrated because we are not able to marshal resources and we're outmanned in just about every respect. (Listen to the mayor express his frustration in this video -- 12:09)
You know the reason why the looters got out of control? Because we had most of our resources saving people, thousands of people that were stuck in attics, man, old ladies. ... You pull off the doggone ventilator vent and you look down there and they're standing in there in water up to their freaking necks. And they don't have a clue what's going on down here. They flew down here one time two days after the doggone event was over with TV cameras, AP reporters, all kind of goddamn -- excuse my French everybody in America, but I am pissed.

WWL: Did you say to the president of the United States, "I need the military in here"? NAGIN: I said, "I need everything." Now, I will tell you this -- and I give the president some credit on this -- he sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get some stuff done, and his name is [Lt.] Gen. [Russel] Honore. And he came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving. And he's getting some stuff done. They ought to give that guy -- if they don't want to give it to me, give him full authority to get the job done, and we can save some people.

WWL: What do you need right now to get control of this situation?

NAGIN: I need reinforcements, I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man. We ain't talking about -- you know, one of the briefings we had, they were talking about getting public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people out here. I'm like, "You got to be kidding me. This is a national disaster. Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country and get their asses moving to New Orleans." That's -- they're thinking small, man. And this is a major, major, major deal. And I can't emphasize it enough, man. This is crazy. I've got 15,000 to 20,000 people over at the convention center. It's bursting at the seams. The poor people in Plaquemines Parish. ... We don't have anything, and we're sharing with our brothers in Plaquemines Parish.

It's awful down here, man.

WWL: Do you believe that the president is seeing this, holding a news conference on it but can't do anything until [Louisiana Gov.] Kathleen Blanco requested him to do it? And do you know whether or not she has made that request?

NAGIN: I have no idea what they're doing. But I will tell you this: You know, God is looking down on all this and if they are not doing everything in their power to save people they are going to pay the price. Because every day that we delay, people are dying and they're dying by the hundreds, I'm willing to bet you. We're getting reports and calls that are breaking my heart, from people saying, "I've been in my attic. I can't take it anymore. The water is up to my neck. I don't think I can hold out." And that's happening as we speak. You know what really upsets me, Garland? We told everybody the importance of the 17th Street Canal issue. We said, "Please, please take care of this. We don't care what you do. Figure it out."

WWL: Who'd you say that to?

NAGIN: Everybody: the governor, Homeland Security, FEMA. You name it, we said it. And they allowed that pumping station next to Pumping Station 6 to go under water. Our sewage and water board people ... stayed there and endangered their lives.

And what happened when that pumping station went down, the water started flowing again in the city and it starting getting to levels that probably killed more people.

In addition to that, we had water flowing through the pipes in the city. That's a power station over there. So there's no water flowing anywhere on the east bank of Orleans Parish. So our critical water supply was destroyed because of lack of action.

WWL: Why couldn't they drop the 3,000-pound sandbags or the containers that they were talking about earlier? Was it an engineering feat that just couldn't be done?

NAGIN: They said it was some pulleys that they had to manufacture. But, you know, in a state of emergency, man, you are creative, you figure out ways to get stuff done.
Then they told me that they went overnight and they built 17 concrete structures and they had the pulleys on them and they were going to drop them.
I flew over that thing yesterday, and it's in the same shape that it was after the storm hit. There is nothing happening. And they're feeding the public a line of bull and they're spinning, and people are dying down here.

WWL: If some of the public called and they're right, that there's a law that the president, that the federal government can't do anything without local or state requests, would you request martial law?

NAGIN: I've already called for martial law in the city of New Orleans. We did that a few days ago.

WWL: Did the governor do that, too?

NAGIN: I don't know. I don't think so. But we called for martial law when we realized that the looting was getting out of control. And we redirected all of our police officers back to patrolling the streets. They were dead-tired from saving people, but they worked all night because we thought this thing was going to blow wide open last night. And so we redirected all of our resources, and we hold it under check.

I'm not sure if we can do that another night with the current resources. And I am telling you right now: They're showing all these reports of people looting and doing all that weird stuff, and they are doing that, but people are desperate and they're trying to find food and water, the majority of them.

Now you got some knuckleheads out there, and they are taking advantage of this lawless -- this situation where, you know, we can't really control it, and they're doing some awful, awful things. But that's a small majority of the people. Most people are looking to try and survive.
And one of the things people -- nobody's talked about this. Drugs flowed in and out of New Orleans and the surrounding metropolitan area so freely it was scary to me, and that's why we were having the escalation in murders. People don't want to talk about this, but I'm going to talk about it.

You have drug addicts that are now walking around this city looking for a fix, and that's the reason why they were breaking in hospitals and drugstores. They're looking for something to take the edge off of their jones, if you will.

And right now, they don't have anything to take the edge off. And they've probably found guns. So what you're seeing is drug-starving crazy addicts, drug addicts, that are wrecking havoc. And we don't have the manpower to adequately deal with it. We can only target certain sections of the city and form a perimeter around them and hope to God that we're not overrun.

WWL: Well, you and I must be in the minority. Because apparently there's a section of our citizenry out there that thinks because of a law that says the federal government can't come in unless requested by the proper people, that everything that's going on to this point has been done as good as it can possibly be.

NAGIN: Really?

WWL: I know you don't feel that way.

NAGIN: Well, did the tsunami victims request? Did it go through a formal process to request? You know, did the Iraqi people request that we go in there? Did they ask us to go in there? What is more important? And I'll tell you, man, I'm probably going get in a whole bunch of trouble. I'm probably going to get in so much trouble it ain't even funny. You probably won't even want to deal with me after this interview is over.

WWL: You and I will be in the funny place together.

NAGIN: But we authorized $8 billion to go to Iraq lickety-quick. After 9/11, we gave the president unprecedented powers lickety-quick to take care of New York and other places.
Now, you mean to tell me that a place where most of your oil is coming through, a place that is so unique when you mention New Orleans anywhere around the world, everybody's eyes light up -- you mean to tell me that a place where you probably have thousands of people that have died and thousands more that are dying every day, that we can't figure out a way to authorize the resources that we need? Come on, man.

You know, I'm not one of those drug addicts. I am thinking very clearly. And I don't know whose problem it is. I don't know whether it's the governor's problem. I don't know whether it's the president's problem, but somebody needs to get their ass on a plane and sit down, the two of them, and figure this out right now.

WWL: What can we do here?

NAGIN: Keep talking about it.

WWL: We'll do that. What else can we do?

NAGIN: Organize people to write letters and make calls to their congressmen, to the president, to the governor. Flood their doggone offices with requests to do something. This is ridiculous.
I don't want to see anybody do anymore goddamn press conferences. Put a moratorium on press conferences. Don't do another press conference until the resources are in this city. And then come down to this city and stand with us when there are military trucks and troops that we can't even count.

Don't tell me 40,000 people are coming here. They're not here. It's too doggone late. Now get off your asses and do something, and let's fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country.

WWL: I'll say it right now, you're the only politician that's called and called for arms like this. And if -- whatever it takes, the governor, president -- whatever law precedent it takes, whatever it takes, I bet that the people listening to you are on your side.

NAGIN: Well, I hope so, Garland. I am just -- I'm at the point now where it don't matter. People are dying. They don't have homes. They don't have jobs. The city of New Orleans will never be the same in this time.

WWL: We're both pretty speechless here.

NAGIN: Yeah, I don't know what to say. I got to go.

WWL: OK. Keep in touch. Keep in touch.

Count Your Blessings

With less than two weeks to go before the Preliminary Election, candidates are jockeying for position, trying to make their case as to why they should be the candidate of your choice.

Many miles away, thousands of our fellow citizens to the South are facing homelessness, destruction and incomprehensible loss.

Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

We should count our blessings, and say a prayer for all those people who have lost their homes, their possessions or, tragically, their loved ones. Say a prayer for the missing and the dead.

It's important to remember, as we wade in the shallow pool of politics this election season, that there are far greater and far more insurmountable challenges facing too many of our fellow countrymen. May God guide them all to safety.

The following is information provided on the NBC website:

The American Red Cross opened a telephone hotline on Sunday to receive for donations from citizens. The number is 1-800-435-7669. Other information on Red Cross emergency programs is available at the Red Cross Web site. And Red Cross shelter information for Louisiana is available by calling 1-800-469-4828.

Other relief organizations soliciting donations included:
Episcopal Relief & Development
United Methodist Committee on Relief
Salvation Army
Catholic Charities
The Network for Good
The Baton Rouge Area Foundation
National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster
B'nai B'rith Disaster Relief Fund
Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Salvation Army's Team Emergency Radio Network was taking requests for information on the welfare and status of loved ones in the hurricane area at its Web site.