Please Support the Coast Guard Foundation and their Disaster Relief Fund

Coast Guard personnel, many of whom are now homeless themselves and have lost everything, have rescued over 3,000 people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, working around the clock to bring as many people as possible to safety. As the service members work non-stop, they can only hope that their own families are well and that someone will be there to help them.

The Coast Guard Foundation has established a Disaster Relief Fund that will be used to assist Coast Guard personnel and their families in the affected areas and bring relief to them as they work hard to relieve the suffering of others.

The Coast Guard is conducting dramatic search-and-rescue missions, assessing damage in the air and on the water and flying in badly needed supplies. Crews are working round-the-clock, despite knowing all they have left is the uniform on their back.

http://www.cgfdn.org/main.html

Please help! Make a Donation Today!

My best,
Paul Conlin
ALF Secretary

We have just added a couple of links to our website, so people are led to the foundation and to the Salvation Army ... We can not do much, but we wanted to publisize this.

We know there is an unimmaginable amount of work to be done!

We have just added a couple of links to our website, so people are led to the foundation and to the Salvation Army ... We can not do much, but we wanted to publisize this.

We know there is an unimmaginable amount of work to be done!

I didn't even think of CG members losing their homes in the storm. I guess I had the same kind of thing as little kids have about their teachers - they just are there to help, but they don't live anywhere. But, just like my First Grade teacher, the USCG is vital to helping people in any situation.

Why isn't this on the news channels? They never seem to stop talking on Fox, CNN, and MSNBC about how to help. This is a cause just as worthy as the Salvation Army or Red Cross...Coasties are people too!

When I'm a correspondent for a news network one day, I'm going to make my goal two things: a) Shut up when I have no idea what I'm talking about (something a LOT of news people need to learn how to do) and b) Try to present the side of the story that nobody thinks of, but is just as worthy of attention. (Like this one!)

Thanks for sharing Paul...

Thanks for the info. Susan and I just made a donation.

Thanks Paul from a retired Coastie. The Coast Guard has always been there just like the rest of the Armed Forces, National Guard and Reserves. The problem is the Coast Guard has not been well known until Homeland Security was established.

Greg - What a fantastic idea you have! Too much of the press prints and talks about the bad things in life instead of giving good news in the same dose.

Paul,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Many times people don't relize that many of those who are out there doing their best to rescue and help those affected by Katrina are themselves most likely homeless and wondering where their loved ones are. This includes all the military from that area as well as Police, Fire and Public works personnel. Storms like Katrina don't bother to pick and choose who, what and where they hit.

Bert

To All - Being a retired Coastie for 20 years I was very interested in looking into the Coast Guard Foundation and what it stood for. I have been unable to load up that website so I still cannnot find an answer to my question. I have to assume that it is a relatively new organization as I was not aware of it during my active duty time. I'm sure it is an organization that does fantastic things but I am not familiar with it and do not want to take anything away from it. I just want to give you information about a fund all Coasties are familiar with and that is the Coast Guard Mutual Assistance Fund.

During my time in the Coast Guard, prior to my active duty time and even now the organization that we Coasties supported was the Coast Guard Mutual Assistance Fund. You can access this wesite at http://www.cgmahq.org/ for additional information on what it is, what it does, how it is run, etc. It is run by the Coast Guard to provide direct aid to all Coasties. I knew many people during my 23 years that got aid from this fund when they needed it. Please access this site and read up on it. I know that this is where my money will be going because of my knowing that all funds go directly to the Coasties that need it without any of the funds being used to run it. This fund is administered through CG Headquarters and has military representatives thoughout the U.S and anywhere Coasties may be. It can be claimed for income tax purposes and you can make donations using many methods. Just thought that I would give you this information also.

Rich,

I had no problem accessing the link to their website but your comments made me think for a moment.

I did a search and came up with this report on the organization which has been around since 1969. It gets 4 stars from a charity rating site. Here's the link-


http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/search.summary/orgid/6489.htm

Taking nothing away from the organization you mention this one seems to be a good one as well.

Dennis

Dennis - I was able to access form your link so thank you. I'm still not familiar with the organization but it seems to be top notch. The organization that I'm familiar with is run by the CG for the CG people is the CG Mutual Assistance Fund. There are no operating costs that I'm familiar with because it is run by people in CG Headquarters that are aready receiving a salary and it is part of their job already. The people in the field are volunteers that do this fund raising. Every year the different ships, air stations, stations, district offices and headquarters units hold a fund drive to put money in the mutual assistance fund. The drive is handled by CG personel and all funds(cash, checks, allotments) are put into this one fund. If a CG active duty, retiree or CG civilian employee needs assistance they apply to the fund for whatever they need. It is strickly confidential. They might need money for a months rent, to buy food, for additional deposites when they are transferred between duty stations, an unexpected expense such as money for emergency leave expenses, money for furniture lost in a fire or money for catastopic events such as Katrina. The money is given to them after a request is reviewed(usually within 24 hours) and it is determined legitimate. They do not have to repay in most cases. I really do not know what the criteria is for repaying if it is required. None of the people that I knew were ever required to repay their gifts. I just thought that I would bring this up as an alternative.

Rich - Sounds like another great way to support those who serve and protect us all! May God Bless all members of the U.S. Coast Guard and everyone involved in the efforts to rescue those trapped and left homeless by this terrible killer storm!

Respectfully,
Paul Conlin

Paul - Any donations that either organization gets will be helpful to the Coasties that have lost their possessions or homes to Katrina. I thank you again for taking the time to think about the men and women in the Coast Guard. Up until 9/11 we were truly the forgotten military service.