Residents donate relief funds

Area efforts to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina are proving successful.

Capt. Brian Reed of the Salvation Army in Brainerd said his office has received about $1,000 so far. He said a $100 donation to the Salvation Army will feed a family of four for two days, provide two cases of drinking water and one household cleanup kit, containing brooms, mops, buckets and cleaning supplies.

"It's going great," Reed said Thursday. "People in the community have really responded. One great thing about this community, they have a heart for the humans around them."

Reed said for now the Salvation Army is only accepting monetary donations because there isn't a means or a place to store material goods in the hurricane-ravaged area. In Louisiana, the Salvation Army has 250 volunteers providing hot meals to about 5,000 people a day, Reed said.

To make a donation

To donate to Red Cross relief efforts, write checks to the American Red Cross, 2029 S. Sixth St., Suite 109, Brainerd, MN 56401.

Write "Hurricane Katrina" or "disaster relief fund" on the memo portion of the check.

To donate to the Salvation Army relief efforts, send a donation to the Salvation Army, 208 S. Fifth St., Brainerd, MN 56401.

Write on the check that the money is for Hurricane Katrina relief.

To donate to the Central Minnesota Community Foundation relief efforts, write checks to CMCF/Central Minnesota Responds, 101 S. Seventh Ave. No. 100, St. Cloud, MN 56301.

Reed also said the Salvation Army will be placing seven kettles at Brainerd/Baxter businesses to collect donations. The Brainerd SuperAmerica convenience store, 1223 S. Sixth St., and Culver's restaurant in Baxter, 15222 Dellwood Drive, are two businesses that have accepted the kettles, and the other five should be in place soon, Reed said.

George Stowe, executive director of the North Star Chapter of the American Red Cross, which covers most of north-central Minnesota, including Brainerd, Thursday said about 35 disaster relief workers from Minnesota, including those from St. Cloud, Duluth, Alexandria and Bemidji, were sent into the hurricane areas to join the 1,900 workers country-wide.

Like the Salvation Army, Stowe said the Red Cross is only asking for monetary donations at the moment. He said he doesn't know how much the Brainerd office had received in monetary donations because the funds are just being received.

"But we expect them to be increasing once people see the full impact on folks down there," in the Gulf Coast states, Stowe said.

The Central Minnesota Community Foundation, which includes the Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation, has organized the Central Minnesota Responds Fund to support relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The Norman C. Skalicky Foundation, administered by the community foundation, is offering to match up to $25,000 in an attempt to raise $50,000. The proceeds will be divided among Catholic charities, Lutheran Social Services, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

MATT ERICKSON can be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.