How to help How to help (September 07, 2005)

American Red Cross

To Donate to the Red Cross, call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org. Individuals interested in volunteering for the American Red Cross should contact the Palo Alto chapter of the Red Cross by calling (650) 688-0415 or by visiting its Website at http://www.paarc.org/.

Bake sales

Staff, students and parents of Duveneck Elementary School will hold a bake sale from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday in front of the school's Kids Club at Channing Avenue and Heather Lane. All proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina. There will be cookies, brownies, Otter Pops, popcorn and bottled water, among other goodies. The school held a similar fundraiser last week that raised $300. The school is located at 705 Alester Ave. The Kids Club number is 328-8356.

The Palo Alto Menlo Park Parents Club will hold a bake sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 10 at Trader Joe's, 720 Menlo Ave. in Menlo Park. For more information, e-mail valleysoxgal@yahoo.com.

Ecumenical Hunger Program

The Ecumenical Hunger Program has received several calls from families who will be sheltering victims of Hurricane Katrina locally. Requests have come for supplies such as bedding, sleeping bags, pillows and food. To donate these types of items or money, call Maleah Choi-Preston at 323-7781.

Homeless Cat Network

The Homeless Cat Network of the Peninsula has created an "ARF-KAT" fund to aid animals displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The fund (officially the "Animal Relief Fund for Hurricane Katrina Victims) will send funds raised to animal-rescue organizations in the areas devastated by Katrina, in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, according to Cimeron Morrissey of HCN -- who noted there is no federal aid for animal-rescue efforts and thousands of dogs and cats are starving and desperate. Funds can be donated via the group's Web site, www.HomelessCatNetwork.org, or mailed to P.O. Box 6, San Carlos, CA 94070. The HCN is a volunteer-run nonprofit organization.

IKEA

Customers can purchase FAMNIG, a red cushion in the shape of a heart, at the East Palo Alto store through Sept. 30 or while supplies last. Every dollar from the sale of this $9.99 heart shaped cushion at all 24 IKEA U.S. stores will be donated directly to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is currently providing services to storm victims in the Gulf Coast states. A $100 donation to the The Salvation Army will feed a family of four for two days, provide two cases of drinking water and one household clean-up kit containing brooms, mops, buckets and cleaning supplies. To donate by phone, call 1-800-SAL-ARMY. To donate by mail, send checks earmarked "disaster relief" to PO BOX 4857 Jackson, Miss. 39296-4857. To donate online, go to http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/.

Stanford Golf Course

For the first time since 1929, Stanford University Golf Course will be open for public play on Sept. 19 in a benefit for the American Red Cross Hurricane Relief Effort. The public is invited to reserve tee times for this one-time only event by calling the Stanford Golf Course at (650) 323-0944. All revenues from green fees ($100 per player) and carts ($12.50/optional) will be donated directly to the Red Cross. Space is limited.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.