Curtis steps up to Help Hurricane Victims (as submitted to Highestwire)

Submitted by cadence turner on Saturday, October 22, 2005 at 11:26:18 AM EST.

Curtis High school joins the race to help New Orleans with their struggle to recovery.

Author: Laura Cala

On August 26, 2005, Hurricane Katrina bulldozed through most of the lower south, leaving hundreds dead and thousands homeless. Aid to the hurricane’s victims, from school children’s pennies to the Red Cross’ thousands of donated dollars, has proved valuable to Hurricane Katrina’s survivors.

Catherine Kirk, a Curtis junior reminisced New Orleans’ loss of beauty after the hurricane, “Terrible thing…such a beautiful city was destroyed and will never again be enjoyed by future generations.”

On a similar note, the exact damages to all of the affected areas, which spanned from Dade, Florida to New Orleans, Louisiana is not known. However, insurance experts place the damages at around 26 billion dollars.

Many high schools, including Curtis are also trying to bring relief to the survivors. As Tiffany Curtis, Curtis’ Student Organization (S.O.) president expounds Curtis’ method of garnering funds. “For three days we (the S.O.) organized a three-day relief effort. The money raised will go to the families and friends of Curtis affected by the hurricane. Two foundations (the Siller foundation and the Defazio foundation) have pledged to donate even more money. We expect to raise at least 5,000 dollars, surpassing last year’s Tsunami relief efforts by close to a thousand dollars.”

Survivors from the storm were relocated to Texas, where they were given housing as well as food and medical care in auditoriums and concert halls. Rebekah Farmer, an ex-Curtis student and a resident of Texas, explains how Hurricane Katrina affected her, “It was so bad… even worse for me, since I left New Orleans two weeks before it happened. I worked at a stadium where some of the survivors were living. They were in desperate need of showers, food and clothes. A lot of people I helped all blamed Bush for his slow response. There was also a lot of looting and women were getting raped in the shelters. There still is zero privacy and no protection.”

Hurricane Katrina survivor, and current Curtis senior, Derek Taylor, transferred to Curtis due to the hurricane. “My family and I were going to come to New York after I graduated, but we came early, because of the hurricane. We get hurricanes all the time in Louisiana, and we didn’t know how bad Katrina was going to be until Sunday night,” the night before the hurricane. “I just hope it gets better down there.” Though Taylor had nothing bad to say about Curtis, there is no doubt as to his homesickness.

Although Curtis’ drive has ended, there are still many more evacuees in Texas and Louisiana who need help. To make a monetary donation to the Red Cross, log on to www.redcross.org. Equally important, items such as soap, underwear and baby clothes are also in great need. To send items to survivors, contact your local Red Cross office.

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