Bay Area Caravan to New Orleans: Meeting Tonight!

TWO VOLUNTEER MEETINGS FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE

Now there are two Volunteer Meeting times for you to choose from. This WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND AT 7:30PM we are having an important meeting for all volunteers interested in participating in any way in the Bay Area caravan to New Orleans. All volunteers should do their best to make it to this meeting. For folks who cannot make it to this meeting, there is a meeting scheduled for SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5TH AT 11:00AM at the same address (see below). In order to make this caravan the biggest success possible, it is preferrable that you attend Wednesday's meeting, if you can, as time is ticking fast and we can accomplish more together by meeting sooner than later. The rough agenda for the meeting:

1. Background on Common Ground and the 9th Ward
2. What the Roadtrip and the on-the-ground work will look like
3. What volunteers need to know
4. Make goals and action plans for raising money and supplies
5. Match riders with drivers, get leads on vehicles
6. Communication plan for Bay Area volunteers
7. Determine location, date, and time of the send-off gathering

The meeting location is: The Green Party office in San Francisco, 1028A Howard Street, between 6th and 7th Streets.

“MANDATORY” ANTI –RACIST TRAINING
Sunday, November 13 from 4:00pm-8:30pm, an anti-racist training, especially for white folks, will be held at the same Green Party location noted above. It is helpful if you notify us to let us know in advance that you’ll be attending. The training will be led by long-time anit-racist trainer, Sharon Martinas. It’s BYOB, Bring Your Own Burrito.

Hope to see you there,
Natasha
sfcaravan [at] mutualaid.org
800-743-3808 ext. 350 (Global Exchange donated this phone line)

http://www.commongroundrelief.org

JOIN THE ROADTRIP FOR RELIEF!!
CLEAN-UP, REPAIR, REBUILD IN THE 9TH WARD
WITH COMMON GROUND COLLECTIVE
November 20-27

Common Ground Collective has called a National Caravan to arrive in New Orleans on November 20th and work over the week of Thanksgiving until November 27th. That’s coming up fast!!!

What: Common Ground wants 300 volunteers from all around the country to converge in New Orleans with donated funds and building & clearning supplies. Volunteers will work on a particular section of the 9th Ward picking up yard debris, cleaning the streets, tarping rooftops, etc. For nearly a month, Common Ground has been organizing and meeting folks in the neighborhood as they return. A community center was just established which will soon be the site of another Common Ground distribution center of needed goods.

Why: The poor neighborhoods of the city don’t have electricity and are not being cleaned up or repaired, while the French Quarter and other predominantly white areas are relatively clean and quite functional. This seems to be a purposeful effort to keep poor and black residents from feeling any hope of being able to recreate their lives in New Orleans. While residents are returning, many poor folks are now living in a vast diaspora around the country, away from their homes, communities, jobs, families and friends. The concentrated efforts of this caravan will bring hope to people in that diaspora as they see that it is possible to clean-up their neighborhoods and rebuild their lives. The work of the caravan will be a demostration of what is possible.

Who: You. Your organization. Self-sustained groups that can organize themselves. We also need volunteers with specific skills: electricians, mechanics, plumbers, mold abaters, roofers, construction workers, carpenters, tree workers, lawyers, cooks –and people who can train other volunteers and residents in these skills.

When: We’re asking folks to arrive in New Orleans on November 20th and work through the Thanksgiving week until Novmeber 27th. Of course, volunteers are needed continuously and can arrive anytime.

How you can help: Get on the bus. Donate a bus. Organize a bus. Donate $$$$. Donate supplies (see the list below). Help raise funds, plan a fundraiser, ask your network to donate. Help spread the word.

To get plugged-in: sfcaravan [at] mutualaid.org or 800-743-3808 ext.350