When sitting on the sidelines isn't enough

[Amanda]

I know all of us want to do something to help the victims of Katrina, and I can see that many, like Kos, are helping raise money for the effort. But I want to go one step further.

I, along with a teammate, head up a grassroots Progressive moment in the Southern Orange County/ North San Diego County area. My teammate has decided that she wants to actually drive to LA with supplies and donations and work with the people who are in the smaller parishes who aren't getting as much help as those in the larger cities.

We are trying to figure out how to do this, and any advice you might have would be very valuable. (She's the emotional firebrand who just wants to drive out there... I'm the logician who wants to work out the details.)

I've thought about contacting local businesses and organizations to see if they would help us sponsor a donation drive and perhaps even donate money and gas cards to help her get there. Not only would we need to organize a drive, we would have to have the backing to finance her getting there safely with food, gas, and all the other expenses incurred on the road.

She won't be going into New Orleans or any of the other cities where there is martial law. Our concern is for the many people in the smaller towns who are getting overlooked in favor of the larger cities.

Please let me know what you think.... any hurdles we may encounter, advice on how to get started, etc. We really want to make this happen, because we know people in our area want to do more than just donate money.

Please visit our blog to learn more about our plans:

http://scblues.blogspot.com">scblues.blogspot.com

Thanks!