Rural to Rural Update

www.ruraltorural.org

Gulf Coast Communities Still Need Help

Rural communities and schools along the gulf coast, especially in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi are continuing to suffer serious consequences of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.  And most are not getting all the help they need from private and government agencies to address the problems they face.

As part of the Rural to Rural effort sponsored by the Rural Trust, staff members are continuing to contact administrators in rural schools affected by the storms.  Rural to Rural  is a means to help rural communities around the country to provide assistance directly to hard-hit and often neglected rural communities on the northern Gulf coast. 

Many rural administrators tell of communities severely stressed by the storms and their aftermath.  Many students don’t have homes, families don’t have jobs or income, and communities face multiple threats to their long-term survival.  While many schools will receive funds from FEMA or private insurance to repair their buildings, they face daily challenges in addressing other needs.  Schools are often the primary local source of support to community residents and need to help provide clothing, food, supplies, and multiple other forms of assistance that residents rely on to survive and to remain in the community.  For many schools, the biggest hurdle is helping keep their communities intact.   

As the holidays turn our attention to those in need, please remember residents of the rural Gulf coast.  Rural to Rural provides a means to channel help directly to hurting people in rural areas.  If your school or community sponsors holiday fund-raising efforts, please consider donating a portion of your earnings to a sister community in Louisiana, Texas, or Mississippi. 

School supplies, winter clothes, food staples, and furniture are all needed, but cash donations are most helpful because they are most flexible and can be applied to the most urgent situations.  To find schools and communities in need of assistance, go to www.ruraltorural.org when you will find easy instructions for providing much-needed help. 

If you would prefer, you can send tax-deductible cash contributions to Rural to Rural  directly to the Rural Trust.  Rural Trust will forward them, in full, to hurricane stricken communities where they will be used to assist rural people with urgent unmet needs.

Thank you for your concern for rural communities and schools.  Please forward this e-mail to friends by clicking here.

Rural to Rural is an intiative of the Rural School and Community Trust.