Concrete Help
Grace Davis remains a terrific clearing house for sending real help to real people in the Gulf.
Linda's been doing a lot of thinking about finding ways to help, ways that won't simply feed into the Red Cross bureaucracy or wind up paying for some church's new lobbyist. So far, this network of mom-bloggers seems to be doing the best work anywhere.
They have instructions on shipping supplies to people who need it, and lists of specific needs for stuff and for willing hands. For example, there's a deli in Gautier that emptied its larder and its bank account to feed the community; if you happen to have a bunch of deli stuff (or credit with a deli distributor), that deli owner could use a hand.
Imagine how much better we'd all be if a lot of folks who owned buses had picked up and said: "I bet they could use me and my bus down there...." There's still plenty of needs.
Another useful site: Modest Needs.
Got more ideas? Let me know.