Desiree Reddick-Head, Florida
During Hurricane Andrew we received a lot of items that were not useful.
Clothing and inappropriate toys. I spent the first two weeks after Hurricane
Andrew hit Southern Florida living in tent cities. The first "months"
are all about the basics. Between military assistance with food (eating
MRE's - Meals ready to eat) and water from Red Cross you spend your time helping
folks re-organize their lives. In caring for children...don't tell Judy...but
you throw out any child care licensing standards. We were just trying
to keep children safe! We did not even have running water for washing
hands after changing diapers and absolutely no gloves...We were happy to report
that no child died from these deplorable circumstances. I suggest giving
first to Red Cross. These are the folks that go in for the immediate needs of
water, food and shelter. Later...much later...the local R&R's and
state,withadditional CCDBG we were able to build back the child
care infrastructure. It took time!
Desiree
