Millions of dollars in charitable donations are on the way to the hurricane-ravaged
Gulf Coast. What I haven't seen in any of the coverage is the damage to the
child-care infrastructure and resources in some of the poorest neighborhoods
in the poorest states in America.
When I talked to my friend, Wendy McEarchern, executive director of
Gulf Regional Childcare Management Agency, she told me that dozens of
centers in low-lying areas such as Bayou LaBatre, Alabama, have simply vanished.
Family child care providers, stretched to the limit, are nevertheless opening
their homes and hearts to the overflow of children from nearby Biloxi, Pass
Christian, and New Orleans.
Schools, of course, were also hard hit, but they can call on the
Resources of the federal government. That's not true, as we know, for child
care.
They need everything: books, toys, school supplies, toiletry items, gas
cards, cleaning supplies, mosquito repellant, money. GRMCA has a
warehouse to handle anything that is shipped. Wendy also wanted me to
convey the message that "we don't sit on anything. Everything is
distributed immediately throughout the Gulf Coast."
GRCMA is an affiliate of the United Way, but they've set up a special Fund
for this crisis. Please send supplies to: Gulf Regional Childcare Management
Agency
Attention; Wendy McEarchern
601 Bel Air Blvd.
Mobile, AL 36606
Make checks out to: Community Foundation of South Alabama, Hurricane
Relief. You can designate on the check if you'd like it to go toward
Relief in Louisianna, Mississippi, Alabama. Whether you'd like it to support
infant care, family child care,respite care, etc.
Judsen Culbreth
