The American Red Cross has already allocated $876 million to assist victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but the agency predicts as much as $2 billion will be needed. Groups throughout Eugene are aiding victims by fund raising, collecting supplies and traveling to help with the clean up effort.
University fraternities and sororities are donating $5,000 to Northwest Medical Teams, an organization providing medical attention to those battered by Katrina.
Brett Butcher, a 28-year-old missionary for Campus Crusade for Christ, recently returned from a week-long trip to Louisiana with the University’s Katrina Relief Team. While in Louisiana, the team of about 20 people organized, donated supplies and cleared homes of mud and debris.
“It’s absolutely devastated,” Butcher said. “It’s almost numbing to see because it’s so bad that you just think, ‘What can you do?’”
Seeing boats, cars and displaced debris that had floated into the city was common for the Relief Team, Butcher said. One particular task assigned to them was to do what is called a “mud-out.”
“Houses and buildings were flooded with one to 10 feet of toxic water,” he said. “The sewage and chemicals in the water meant that most houses had to be stripped down to the studs. It’s really hard to process emotionally while you’re there. You just get into ‘help mode’ and plug away.”
Josh Goldfarb, a University student and former New Orleans resident, organized a series of fund-raising efforts with local businesses. “New Orleans is my second home ,and now it’s just wrecked,” Goldfarb said. “The city itself is never going to be the same.”
The relief effort, Hurricane’s Emergency Local Participation, was organized to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The benefits organized by HELP are entirely supported by Eugene businesses and benefit Mercy Corps, a Portland-based nonprofit organization.
Goldfarb, a junior philosophy student, said he has been working nonstop to balance school and his fund-raising efforts. He said he is optimistic about the upcoming benefits.
“Every little bit helps,”
Butcher said.

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