Calabasas sharing the wealth

Although Hurricane Katrina no longer remains in the headlines, people on the Gulf Coast who lost their homes to the September disaster are still devastated and trying to rebuild. A newly founded group called the Spirit of Calabasas F o u n d a t i o n hasn’t forgotten about those in need

In a unique display of community largesse, The Spirit of Calabasas Foundation, in partnership with the city of Calabasas, will host a donation drive at city hall this weekend to collect needed items and gift cards for transportation to Plaque-mine Parish in Louisiana, near New Orleans.

The idea of sponsoring a parish came from Calabasas resident Red Godfrey, Spirit of Calabasas Foundation president. In Louisiana, a parish is similar to a county. Godfrey spent some time in the disaster zone recently and became familiar with Plaquemine Parish, which covers an area of nine cities, nine schools and about 26,500 people. Only three of the nine schools, Godfrey said, are currently operational. It’s an area that’s in dire need of assistance.

Plaquemine is the southernmost parish below New Orleans. According to local experts, the area will take years to recover. In fact, Plaquemine still has a large number of people who aren’t even accounted for.

“Our immediate goal at the moment is to actually engage the community and hopefully, yourselves and the city, in the long term building of a community, which has been affected by Katrina,” Godfrey told Calabasas City Council members last week.

Godfrey produced a list of things needed in the Plaquemine community, including paper towels, toilet paper and hand sanitizer, and office supplies such as dry erase whiteboards and erasers, markers and cleaning fluid, card stock dividers, staples and staplers, hanging file folders, paper clips, hole punchers, manila folders, labels, clear tape dispensers, file cabinets, scissors, white-out, storage cabinets, classroom CD players, paper cutters, note pads and brown packing paper. With winter coming, extra clothing also will be needed.

“They’re in desperate need of winter coats and things like that,” Godfrey said.

Other suggested donations include gift cards in any dollar amount from retail stores such as Wal Mart, Office Depot, Kmart and Sears.

This weekend, the public is invited to bring supplies to city hall at 26135 Mureau Road in Calabasas. Items will be collected starting at 10 a.m. on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27. A “friendship ceremony” with band, refreshments, and children creating holiday gift cards for their pen pals in Louisiana will add to the festive atmosphere. The trucks will leave on Nov. 28.

The city council donated $15,000 to get the Spirit of Calabasas Foundation started. The money will pay for the group’s costs for transporting the supplies and volunteers to Louisiana.

“We want to tap into the resources of our community to actually give it an extra sense of pride and be able to, through its willingness in helping other communities, give back in any way, shape or form,” Godfrey said.

For more information about this weekend’s Louisiana donation drive, call city hall at (818) 8784225.