Codes For Decmeber for Family effected by Katrina

[cara76]

We did lose everything, that doesnt' mean that life doesn't go on or that we didn't have money to rebuild or lives. Like I said you don't know us or or our situation before or after Kartina, rest assure if it was your donation I recieved it didn't go to Disney, as those passes where just bought in the last 2 weeks and we got red cross money the first week of Sept. Trust me, we made sure our lives where back on track before we bought passes.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I bought annual passes partly with the money that we had saved for our yearly trip to WDW, the money was already there and it was cheaper for us to do that then it was to go for our yearly trip. They were also bought after DH had secured a job, and we had houseing and furniture. They were also partly bought with the money DS school refunded us for paying his tuition in whole this year in New Orleans. Why I'm justifying this to a stranger I don't know. You don't know me so don't judge me.

Trust me red cross money can't even cover the cost of annual passes ffor one person let alone a family of 3. I think we got 300 a person that went to replacing household items that are needed and food for my food allergic child.

You don't know my fanical situation before or after Katrina so don't judge me.

This just blows my mind.

IF you can afford to buy annual passes for your family, why would Red Cross need to give you money to replace household items and buy food? Why not used the money that you had saved

Isn't that money to help those who don't have anything?

How is this different from the people that used the fema debit cards to buy designer bags??

I'm with LakeAriel, post like this are making me rethink financial donations. How can you be sure the money gets to the people that REALLY need it?

Wow

 

[HLAuburn]

This just blows my mind.

IF you can afford to buy annual passes for your family, why would Red Cross need to give you money to replace household items and buy food? Why not used the money that you had saved

Isn't that money to help those who don't have anything?

How is this different from the people that used the fema debit cards to buy designer bags??

I'm with LakeAriel, post like this are making me rethink financial donations. How can you be sure the money gets to the people that REALLY need it?

Wow

I think the best part is that they are PREMIUM Annual Passes.

cara76, I live on the Northshore, so I get where you're coming from as far as life getting back to normal, but why come on here and say "I lost everything, but I have PAPs for the whole family" when you know many people on here donated to the Red Cross for relief, NOT for Disney trips? Regardless if the Red Cross money went to food or to passes, I think a lot of people just find it a little...ummm..."unfair" that you took donations from the Red Cross, but you have PAPs which most people will never have. In one breath you say you "lost everything", and in the next you're "livin' large, PAPing in Florida". I'm totally not questioning how you delegated your money, because I know first-hand how its been, but I just think its a little insulting to people on here.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[LakeAriel]

The OP disappeared and Cara appeared at the same time ummmmmmmmmmm?
Interesting

 

[MrsHeg]

To LakeAriel,

And others who feel they may have made a mistake in donating to the victims of Katrina. Is it true that people took advantage of other's generousity, unfortunately it is, their are people in the world who will always prey on others misfortune. With that being said, don't think that your help was in vane and went unappreciated.

There are so many stories I could tell you about the victims that I know personally, and that doesn't even scratch the surface. Instead of telling them all I'll tell you about a couple of my former co-workers. They are my former co-workers because our place of employment is closed indefinitely. It had a ten foot storm surge go through it, destroying the interior and busting out the back wall as it went through. It was quarantined afterwards because they found one body inside the building and ten more on the roof, these bodies were washed from their homes as the surge came through, and apparantly the waves were high enough to wash the bodies onto the roof. This was a building that was at least two miles from the beach.

First let me tell you about Denise. She is in her mid 50's, she lived in Diamondhead with her husband Ed. Just over two weeks before the storm Ed had the lower third of his lung removed due to lung cancer, he wasn't doing as well as they had hoped and was still in ICU when the storm hit. It was against the hospitals policy to allow family members to stay during the storm so Denise stayed alone in her home during the storm. Fortunately her home didn't fllood but she did lose several trees, one of which crashed through her roof. Scared to death she got behind her washing machine with her small dog and stayed there until the winds subsided. By this time all power, phones and cell phones were out so she had no way to contact the hospital to see how Ed was. She had three trees down in her driveway blocking her car, thanks to the help of neighbors she was able to get her car out after they cut and moved the trees for her. She describes the drive to the hospital as frightening as she drives around many obstacles and tries to keep her car on the road as it is sliding on the thick layer of mud that was left by the flood waters. When she finally did make it to the hospital she goes straight to the ICU, only to see that the hospital has flooded and Ed's bed is empty and the respirator that he was on is still there. Naturally she panics, the staff then informs her that Ed had to be air lifted to USA hospital in Mobile. Denise makes it to Mobile and sees Ed, but sadly he didn't make it. So now Denise had to bury her husband and come home and try and pick up the peices here alone.

And then there's Donna, in December of 2003 Donna's mother got suddenly ill and died unexpectedly, two days before the one year anniversary of her mother's death her husband who was working in Gretna, LA was found, beaten to death with a hammer and his body set on fire to destroy any evidence that may have been left. They still have no suspects on who could have done this horrible thing. Donna and her family lived in an older home in Bay St Louis, a home that her husband had started many projects in and finished none, leaving it in dire need of repairs. Doing her best to keep herself together for the sake of her children, Donna returned to work and had been using the insurance money she received from her husband's death to fix up her home. She took me over and showed me all the things that had been done, the place looked like a totally different house, and was very near completion. After Katrina went through she had only three walls left and what is left has been condemned, she, like so many others did not have flood insurance, as they were told it was not needed at the elevation they were at.

These are only two of thousands of stories that remain to be told. And yes those of us who are here yearn to get away for a while, to escape this reality and go the a place that is "Magical" if only for a little while. In the hopes that it might help chase away the growing depression that goes along with coming back from something like this. As I've said in an earlier post, I've lived here most of my life and been through several storms, no one was prepared for this.

So once again I'll say thank you to those who have helped, and please don't think that all your support was for nothing, it wasn't.

 

[Zurealsoon]

The OP just asked if anyone knew of a code. She didn't ask for people to pay for her trip. If she has the proof that she is a Katrina victim then if there is a discount to be had then why shouldn't she be able to ask about one.
.

THE OP had no damage. Don't you think asking for a discount simply because you lived in an area affected by the hurricane, but suffered no damage...is a bit crass?

 

[LakeAriel]

Mrs. Heg
You need not describe the horror that was Hurricane Katrina. I know it was hell and I know the death toll was way too high. That is why I gave as much as I did. Two days before I went to Disney my DD comforted a stranger hit by a car outside her college. It was a gruesome sight and the poor man died before the ambulance arrived. She was devastated for the man. I was so glad we were going to Disney so she could lose that image just for a while. If I hadn't given so much to the Red Cross we could have stayed longer or stayed in a moderate instead of a value or taken my Granddaughter along also. That was OK though because so many needed food, water, medicine and shelter. My intention was not to give so that some could use their money for PAP's. I couldn't even afford those myself and I didn't lose everything in a hurricane. I will continue to give blood and perhaps consumables instead of money in the future. I cannot afford to send others to Disney as nice as that sounds.

 

[HLAuburn]

THE OP had no damage. Don't you think asking for a discount simply because you lived in an area affected by the hurricane, but suffered no damage...is a bit crass?

Well, just because she had no damage doesn't mean she wasn't a hurricane victim. It's not as simple as did you or did you not lose your house. Everyone in this area continues to live with the residual effects of Katrina. Things may never get back to normal. It's such a totally unique and weird situation...but the best way to describe it is that life is just different now.

I'm also blessed with an intact house and had just minor inconveniences for a few weeks after the storm, but it there were some "Katrina" special, I'd sure take advantage of it. Damage or not, everyone around here has suffered. Now I'm not sure the OP needs a holiday vacation at a 2 bedroom villa if she can't afford it, but whatever...

 

[Camping Cat]

Mrs. Heg
You need not describe the horror that was Hurricane Katrina. I know it was hell and I know the death toll was way too high. That is why I gave as much as I did. Two days before I went to Disney my DD comforted a stranger hit by a car outside her college. It was a gruesome sight and the poor man died before the ambulance arrived. She was devastated for the man. I was so glad we were going to Disney so she could lose that image just for a while. If I hadn't given so much to the Red Cross we could have stayed longer or stayed in a moderate instead of a value or taken my Granddaughter along also. That was OK though because so many needed food, water, medicine and shelter. My intention was not to give so that some could use their money for PAP's. I couldn't even afford those myself and I didn't lose everything in a hurricane. I will continue to give blood and perhaps consumables instead of money in the future. I cannot afford to send others to Disney as nice as that sounds.

I can't blame you for being disillusioned, but I'm really sorry to hear that you are going to let the fact that one person on this board may have used their Red Cross money unwisely keep you from helping others in dire need in the future. And believe me, there are so many in real need. Did you really think when you made your donation that there wouldn't be some people who might take advantage of the situation? But they are just a drop in the bucket. They don't matter. They CAN'T matter! If they did, no one who really needed it would ever be helped. I myself, haven't made any donations to any organizations for Katrina. I know too many people personally who need help. Unlike you, I know where my money is going and I see the results and I know exactly how much good it is doing. I hope that after you have thought it over a little, you might change your mind and not penalize all for the sake of a few. One way to possibly make yourself feel a little better is to think of it this way.....someone else's money sent them to Disney....YOUR donation was the one that helped rebuild someone's house.

On a lighter note....I'm going to WDW in December myself but before anyone jumps on me, this trip was planned since last year, I never received ANY Red Cross money, and our already purchased AP's evacuated with us! Hey, there was no way I was leaving them behind!

 

[LaLa]

Well said, Camping Cat. Have a great time on your trip. Get away from all this craziness for a while. We ourselves were also in the same situation. We had planned our trip in May of this past year, had already paid the trip off and everything and then Katrina hit. Even though the trip was already paid for, we still have a hard time deciding whether we should go just out of guilt. Guilt that we didn't get nearly as much damage as others around us, guilt that we were still able to live in our house, guilt that we could actually afford the trip when so many others couldn't. But we ended up switching our dates and going the first week of October before the kids started back to school and are really glad we went. It was a great chance to just be normal again, if only for one week. Having said that, I don't think we would have gone had the trip not been previously planned and paid for. But I was really glad it was, because it was the best week of the year and exactly what we needed to escape from the nasty cloud of despair hovering over this area of the country right now. God bless.