A grassroots Katrina relief effort started by visual effects house Zoic Studios, Los Angeles, caught the attention of Blair Stribley and Roy Skillicorn, partners in production company Backyard, Venice, Calif.. The two companies came together and teamed to collect goods for Katrina victims–with contributions coming from throughout the industry–and then delivered the basic necessities to the needy in Louisiana. The following are some excerpts from Stribley’s reflections on what he saw and felt as he drove through parts of Louisiana, accompanied by among others, freelance producer Anton Mallie. Italicized copy serves as a bridge between Stribley’s observations. The first stop is New Iberia, where the mini caravan heads into a Wal-Mart which has become a disaster relief distribution center.
Our semi had just backed into the loading dock. We thought, “great, we’ll help them unload.” No way. This place is run with OSHA in mind. They are well organized and manned by trained volunteers from the Adventists. They are great, selfless people who just want to help others in their time of need. Lisa is the woman who has been our contact over the last several days and now we finally get to meet her. She’s here from someplace in Texas and has several kids and a husband at home. She has been there for 10 days already, sleeping on a cot in the warehouse and using a hose hooked up to a sink in the women’s room as a shower. …Lisa gives us a tour of the place and shows us how items are brought in, organized and re-packed to be shipped back out to the churches and groups who are in need. It seemed a little impersonal at first but we did see the system in action with pickup trucks and trailers coming in and picking up loads of supplies. Lisa told us that many families have taken in other families who have been rendered homeless. Families of four now house up to 20 people….I felt good about our delivery.
After picking up a truck with another load, Stribley and colleagues make their way to Covington.
We make it to the Covington exit and find ourselves in a Baton Rouge-type traffic jam. The Stones must be playing here…Actually we see dozens of power company and tree removal trucks from many different states…There is evidence of Katrina here with tarps on roofs, destroyed fast food signs, etc. We make our way off the main drag and find the Faith Bible Church. It sits on a beautiful plot of land surrounded by tall oak trees. The volunteer have been awaiting our arrival. We unloaded our truck and SUV with the goods they requested….We helped out some more and got to know some of the people. It was odd but for a group of people caught in the middle of a disaster, they seemed pretty upbeat. It turns out that Covington is a town with several faces. Primarily Africa-American but I’d guess 25 to 30 percent white. In part, it serves as a bedroom community for peole who work and have businesses in New Orleans. There you can live in a clean wooded community but have a short drive into the city on the bridge over Lake Pontchartrain. Another part of the community works right there in Covington at local businesses, schools and government facilities. It’s a town like many in America with a modern infrastructure and businesses like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Holiday Inn Express type hotels (all clients we’ve done spots for), etc. But there’s another face too. It’s the very, very poor African American. I mean dirt poor, living in government-subsidized shacks. It’s the rural version of the urban ghetto. The Faith Bible Church serves all these people. And they are all working together to pull each other back up on their feet….The damage incurred here was all wind related. There was no flooding or storm surge. But uprooted trees have taken out power lines, people’s roofs and smashed cars. The disaster has left many people without jobs for an indefinite period of time, especially those who worked in New Orleans. As of the day we arrived, most of these people still didn’t have power which means no AC in blistering heat. Land line phone service will not be up and running for another two months and mobile service is spotty. All these people have been forced to focus on life’s basic necessities–Shelter, food and clothing. Nobody was bitching about not being able to get a prime table at The Ivy.
Faith Bible’s pastor, Alfred Young Jr., shows up a bit later in the day. He apologizes for not being there to greet us at our arrival but he was making a delivery of much needed supplies to a group in Franklinton, which is just north of Covington. Faith Bible not only serves their congregation and the community of Covington but they reach out to many communities in the area. Alfred told us a nearly unbelievable story about the local police attempting to run them off as they were creating a traffic nuisance due to the large crowd assembling, trying to get these supplies. Apparently this group has only had ready-to-eat meals supplied by the Red Cross since Katrina came through nearly two-and-a-half weeks prior. The police told Alfred these “people” (a much more derogatory term was used) had everything they needed and he should just run along. In the end everyone got the supplies but it sounded like a story from the 50’s. Hard to believe this still goes on but Alfred seemed undaunted. Just another day at the office for him.
We move onto another stop some 20 miles away, the town of Slidell, due east of New Orleans.
This town sustained major damage as it was on the eastern edge of the hurricane’s eye. It was disturbing to see this level of destruction. The storm surge here was over 20 feet and many of the homes were underwater for some time. We saw spray painted messages on people’s garage doors saying things like , “I’ve got the kids and our valuables. We’re all OK. I love you, Honey.” The people we saw picking through the rubble of their lives did not look so upbeat. They looked like they just came back from the DMZ. I guess what’s disturbing about seeing this first hand is that you instantly picture yourself in their position. That could be me who is out looking for my family or it could be me whose business has been washed away with no idea how to rebuild. It’s like 911 in that regard. The people suffering a catastrophic blow to their lives are just like you and me. It’s a lot easier to see on TV.
And then, Stribley and friends went back to the Faith Bible Church.
Anton and I stuck around to help with the distribution of goods at 3 p.m. Twice a week, since Katrina happened, Faith Bible has set up an assembly line of sorts where people come in cars and trucks to pick up the items they need. The line of cars was probably half a mile long and it worked pretty smoothly. People in the vehicles were asked how many families they are picking up for and in goes the cases of water, prepackaged meals, personal hygiene bags with soap, toothpaste and the like and, if they had babies, they’d get baby food, formula and diapers. This was the best part of the trip for me as I got to see the goods we collected in Los Angeles, packed up at Backyard, drove two-thirds across the country and delivered directly into the hands of the people whose lives have been turned upside down by this disaster.
