September 6, 2005

Critical Quota International Hurricane News

Dear Quota Members,

I have three critical updates for you on Hurricane Katrina and the devastation that has occurred in Quota International's District 21. Will you please print and share this important information with your fellow club members who do not have e-mail access:

1. QUOTA INTERNATIONAL IS NOW ACCEPTING HURRICANE RELIEF DONATIONS
   
   
2. MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST MEMBER SHARES TALE OF POST-HURRICANE HORROR AND DEVASTATION
   
   
3. MONROE CLUB MEMBERS SUPPORT HURRICANE VICTIMS

In the week ahead, we will be posting on our Quota International Web Site (www.quota.org) notes of sympathy that we have begun to receive from members and clubs around the world. If you wish to send a message from your club, please e-mail it to nancy@quota.org or fax it to (202) 331-4395.

Sincerely,
Kathleen Treiber
Executive Director

1. QUOTA IS NOW ACCEPTING HURRICANE RELIEF DONATIONS

Quota International's charitable arm, the We Share Foundation, is now accepting donations that will support hurricane relief efforts. A full 100 percent of your donations will be targeted for these efforts. We will report back to you on the amount of donations that are received and how they were distributed to those working closest to the devastation. We will distribute funds to support hands-on hurricane relief efforts sponsored by or recommended by local District 21 clubs.

2. MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST MEMBER SHARES TALE OF POST-HURRICANE HORROR

I would like to share a very moving first-person account of the devastation that occurred from Mississippi Gulf Coast Club member Tamara Morrison. Quota's Mississippi Gulf Coast Club experienced the brunt of Hurricane Katrina's brutal force.

"You cannot imagine how much it means to know that people around the world care about what is happening to us here. It is so disastrous that we are having a hard time believing it. As you have probably seen on CNN and the Weather Channel, our lives have been dramatically altered forever. Our favorite restaurants are gone, our businesses are gone or damaged, our landmarks are like matchsticks on the ground, our historical homes are gone, our casino industry is devastated, our bridges are broken, and the list goes on and on.

I have a 5-year-old grandson who had just started kindergarten, and now we may not have school for as long as a year. What do we do about that? Move and enroll him in a town as close as possible! We have so many questions to figure out just to carry on our lives that reach far beyond just the damage or loss of our homes. And while things like these are small things compared to the rest, it is still a part of the whole that we have got to deal with.
I can tell you first hand that not knowing who is safe and what is going on is the hardest part to deal with.

Text messaging is AWESOME, as we have discovered it is our only way of communicating with those still on the coast. I have been able to send a text message to my husband, Bill, who is there, to go and check on so many people and their homes. He has done the best he can under the circumstances, and we have been able to let many people know that their loved ones are okay or their houses are still standing.

On our property, every tree is either twisted and broken, bent over to the ground, or on my home. In all, we will have to have 19 trees, (that's every one of them) removed. My roof will have to be replaced. However, as I survey the damage around us, I count my blessings and recognize that what we are dealing with, as bad as it is, pales in comparison to others. We will make it just fine. My sister has lost her home, but my parents did not.

My husband also checked on Mississippi Gulf Coast Quota member Paula April and said she and her family are okay as is her house. I believe "okay" is relative....meaning not destroyed just damaged, at least that is how it appeared at the moment.

As for what Quota can do…please keep us in your prayers as these long days of recovery drag on. We will eventually find out about the deaf center and the families there who may need assistance, etc. Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers. Being a Quotarian means more than ever at times like these, because I know the hearts of our members and the warmth of their caring, and just knowing they are there is very comforting. I believe the Quota Collect says it all."

3. MONROE CLUB MEMBERS SUPPORT HURRICANE VICTIMS

We have heard from an additional District 21 club, Quota International of Monroe, Louisiana. While club members in that area did not experience rain or wind from the storm, members are critically involved in relief efforts. Past club president Diane Guillot reports that she is volunteering at an evacuee center that opened the Sunday prior to the storm. At midnight on Thursday (September 1), they had 1,830 misplaced people and were expecting as many as 1,300 more to arrive at some point. Diane has been working
12-hour shifts at the shelter, and she has seen other Quotarians providing needed services and products for the occupants.

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