First wave of help from Valley arrives on Gulf Coast

It's nice to know you've made a difference.
Thousands of Mahoning Valley residents who have donated food, water, household cleaners and personal hygiene products for transport to victims of Hurricane Katrina in recent days got to see that they have made a difference with a report from Louisiana by The Vindicator's Bill Lewis in Sunday's paper.
Lewis, a photographer, rode along on one of the Falcon Transport trucks that took 17 tons of supplies to the New Iberia, La., area. In words and pictures, he told of the gratitude of evacuees from New Orleans who are receiving the aid and of the volunteers who are helping distribute it.
A picture of posters signed by Mahoning Valley residents propped up at an aid distribution center in Opelousas, La., showed that people there know that some of the millions of people from around the world who are sending help and good wishes are from a place called the Mahoning Valley in Northeast Ohio .
This particular relief effort was spearheaded by the B.J. Alan Co. of Youngstown and received strong support from WKBN Radio. But throughout the Valley, hundreds of efforts to provide help have been launched.
Helpers by the hundreds
Lists that ran in Friday and Sunday editions of The Vindicator showed how varied those relief efforts are.
Local churches are establishing aid relationships with sister churches throughout the Gulf Coast region that was devastated by Katrina. City of Youngstown employees and local merchants are planning a two-day "Bail Out the Bayou!" fund-raiser for the American Red Cross disaster relief fund.
Local farmers, Realtors, car dealers, taverns, police and fire departments, food banks, fraternal organizations -- virtually any group that gets together for business or pleasure -- are organizing relief efforts. With classes back in session, schools and colleges will be giving kindergarten pupils and graduate students alike an opportunity to help.
And, of course, volunteers for the Red Cross and other relief organizations have been dispatched from the Mahoning Valley to help on site. Likewise, National Guard and Air Force Reserve troops have been dispatched from the Valley.
Cleaning up and rebuilding the Gulf Coast and caring for displaced residents in the meantime is going to be the largest relief effort ever mounted in the United States. The Red Cross alone estimates it will need 44,000 trained volunteers.
As time goes on, as the horror of the images from Katrina's wake fade, there is a danger that Americans will become weary of helping. In those times, it will be important to remember images such as those sent back to the Mahoning Valley by Lewis -- images that show we all can make a difference and that our efforts are appreciated.