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JPost.com » International » Article
Sep. 3, 2005 7:55 | Updated Sep. 4, 2005 18:36
Jewish groups rally to help Katrina victims
By SAM SER AND NATHAN GUTTMAN
WASHINGTON
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Jewish groups and communities across the United States have responded to the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and moved quickly to help victims across the Gulf Coast, either in collecting donations or in hosting those displaced by the devastating storm.
# Click here to donate to the UJC relief fund
# Click here to donate to Chabad's Jewish Hurricane Relief Fund
Chabad has been the most active on the ground so far, mobilizing its emissaries in communities near New Orleans and the rest of the affected region. Rabbi Chaim Lazaroff of Chabad in Houston, for example, has been working around the clock to help in a range of ways. He was one of the first people to offer help in organizing relief efforts at the Astrodome, where thousands of New Orleans residents were brought last week.
"We went immediately to the Astrodome, even before FEMA and the Red Cross were there," he said on Friday. "We helped them set up cots and bedding and clothing We're trying to help them in any way we can. We've tried our best to coordinate with the other organizations; we encouraged them to start a registry of refugees/evacuees."
One benefit of the registry, explained Lazaroff, was to identify Jewish victims in need so that Chabad could offer them help. Lazaroff said he and other members of the Houston Jewish community have worked to find local landlords willing to offer temporary shelter to dislocated families, find employers with jobs available to offer those whose employment has been indefinitely interrupted,
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