Check out ProjectKatrinaVolunteers.net

www.ProjectKatrinaVolunteers.net is working to gather stories of individuals or groups who have traveled to the Gulf Coast in the last two years to help rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall on August 29, 2005, has since been ranked the costliest hurricane in US History, as well as the third strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States. Since the hurricane, over 500,000 volunteers have traveled to the devastated region to spend their vacation time assisting the rebuilding efforts. However, the volunteer efforts in the Gulf Coast in the last two years are diminishing, but they are needed for another 5-10 years. The devastation of Katrina has been disappearing from the press, and therefore people think that the Gulf Coast is rebuilt, up, and running. Unfortunately, this is not the case. And more volunteers are needed.
www.TravelTelevision.org and www.ProjectKatrinaVolunteers.net are two websites that will be launched on August 29, 2007, the second anniversary of the hurricane. On ProjectKatrinaVolunteers.net, people who have spent time volunteering in the Gulf Coast can share their stories. We will also be premiering a television series which shares the stories of some of these dedicated volunteers. We will be on television in most of the Washington, DC area, as well as several other cities across the country. All the episodes can also be viewed online at www.TravelTelevision.org .
Once a year, newspapers will continue to report on how the Gulf Coast is doing as the United States moves past the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. However, just because newspapers do not report on the damage for 11 of the 12 months in the year doesn’t mean that the damage doesn’t exist. The people who evacuated the New Orleans area in 2005 have been scattered throughout the country, and many are longing to return to their homes, and their city that is only a shadow of its former self. According to the Times-Picayune, New Orleans’ population today is only 56% of its pre-Katrina population. If a city is defined by its people, a large part of what makes New Orleans great is still dispersed throughout the nation. It is up to the rest of the nation to give them a city to return to, if we ever hope to bring them back and completely revive New Orleans.
Visit http://www.traveltelevision.org/ for more information about the Katrina Project television show, and http://www.projectkatrinavolunteers.net/ for more information about volunteering in the Gulf Coast.