Hello, Margaret Saizan here. I am the publisher of Beyond Katrina: The Voice of Hurricane & Disaster Recovery. Since 2005 I have sponsored a Christmas wish fulfillment/Adopt a Family program to help match donors to hurricane survivors. The program has become very popular and I am especially pleased that the donors love it so much! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to host the program last year for personal reasons. However, much to my surprise (and delight) I received many emails from donors who were really disappointed about this. The Adopt-a-Family program has been an enormously rewarding experience for both givers and receivers alike.
Inasmuch as the gulf coast is still not fully recovered from the storms of 2005 and its citizens are now dealing with the aftermath of two additional hurricanes - Gustav and Ike - I am considering reinstating the program this year. Please let me know if you are interested in participating either by adopting a family, being a co-sponsor, or otherwise. At this point I am seeding ideas and I welcome dialogue and input from readers and stakeholders in gulf coast hurricane recovery.
In times past the program has been wildly successful as an organic, self creating initiative and this seems to be congruent with the viral way in which new media/social media moves. However, this year I am getting a little bit earlier start than usual and plan to be more intentional in my promotional efforts. Inasmuch as the deeper motivation for most who participate lies in the satisfaction of a job well done, I would like to create a way to cross promote the businesses and initiatives of participating donors and sponsors. In this way the benefits to all are multiple.
Please email inquiries, ideas, pledges to donate or sponsor, etc. to Margaret Saizan at beyondkatrina@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you!
Cheers,
Margaret Saizan
Beyond Katrina: The Voice of Hurricane & Disaster
Recovery
www.hurricane-katrina.org