Spirit of Calabasas group helps hurricane victims
Trip to the South 
By Michael Picarella pic@theacorn.com 
December 15, 2005

Officials from the city of Calabasas and the newly founded support group Spirit of Calabasas Foundation returned recently from a 3,800-mile round trip to Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana where they donated about 100 boxes of office equipment, computers and other supplies to the townspeople and their needy school district. 

The parish, which is south of New Orleans and juts into the Gulf of Mexico, was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. 

The Spirit of Calabasas obtained the items during a community collection drive held last month at city hall. 

The Calabasas officials said their trip to Louisiana left them in awe and convinced them to do all they can to help the Plaquemines residents cope with their situation. 

“Even three months later, the devastation is all around you and emotions for this community are still raw,” said Red Godfrey, Spirit of Calabasas president. “There was not a soul we met that had not been affected.” 

Calabasas Media Operations Director Deborah Steller, who made the visit to Plaquemines Parish to document the trip for CTV, the Calabasas cable access channel, said previous media coverage failed to prepare her for what she saw firsthand. 

“It’s really hard to describe in words—or pictures—the level of destruction caused by the hurricanes,” Steller said. “In Plaquemines, there were about 40 miles of total devastation and 

destruction, mile after mile after mile of pads where houses used to be, houses in the roadhouses on cars, houses thafloated across the MississippRiver, mold-soaked belongingsterrible smells permeating everything, dead animals, cars in trees, houses in trees, empty graves where coffins had floated away.” 

In the 9th Ward and in St. Bernard’s Parish in New Orleans, there are entire neighborhoods— thousands of houses—that must to be gutted or destroyed, Steller said. “People just seem shell shocked, three months later, trying to figure out an exit strategy of some sort.” 

Steller said the trip gave her a new appreciation for what the hurricane victims are going through. 

Godfrey said the Calabasas excursion made a big impact on Plaquemines Parish. 

“Benny Rousselle, parish president, and Superintendent Hoyle of the school district, confirmed we were the first group to offer assistance and actually follow through,” Godfrey said. 

“The fact we actually went there to show support was commented on by many, many of the people we met. . . . When dropping off the supplies, it was humbling to hear Superintendent Hoyle become emotional. He felt they had been forgotten by the rest of the world, and this show of support from our community made them realize they were not alone.” 

Godfrey said the visit to one of the district’s elementary schools brought her emotions into sharp focus. 

“How do you look a child in the eyes and not get tearful when she tells you her house exploded and there is nothing left?” Godfrey said. 

The Spirit of Calabasas Foundation is already looking ahead to the next effort to help Plaquemines Parish. 

“We made a promise to this community that we’re going to be on the long haul with them, that they were not going to be yesterday’s news,” Godfrey said. “With this in mind, the parish showed us around a senior day care facility, which is being used as an animal shelter for those people who have no homes to take their pets. 

“This facility needs to be restored to its original use, it needs cleaning and some structural repairs, and then a good makeover,” Godfrey said 

Over the next few weeks, the Spirit of Calabasas Foundation will work on the logistics of restoring the facility. The foundation will announce its plans at the first Calabasas City Council meeting in January, Godfrey said. 

Meanwhile, CTV will air documentary programming to tell viewers about the plight of the New Orleans parish. 

“Our goal is to help the Spirit of Calabasas show people the devastating effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the community that Calabasas has been paired with, Plaquemines Parish,” Steller said. “Once people actually see what an enormous task rebuilding an entire community is, I think they’ll be motivated to get involved and help make a difference.” 

For more information about the Spirit of Calabasas Foundation, go to www.spiritofcalabasas.org.

Belle Chasse to gain California aid
Dec 1, 2005  by CityBusiness Staff Report

The city of Calabasas, Calif., and the Spirit of Calabasas Foundation will deliver a 22-foot truck filled with relief supplies to Plaquemines Parish.The supplies, including school materials and computers, will be delivered during a 10 a.m. ceremony Friday at 119 Keating Drive in Belle Chasse.Before Hurricane Katrina struck, Plaquemines Parish had a population of nearly 26,000, about the same size as Calabasas.After visiting New Orleans with the Red Cross shortly after the disaster, Calabasas resident Red Godfrey and other volunteers formed the Spirit of Calabasas Foundation to deliver materials and manpower to the disaster area.The foundation held a donation drive at Calabasas City Hall over the Thanksgiving weekend to collect supplies requested by Plaquemines Parish President Benny Rousselle and Parish School Superintendent James Hoyle. The city of Calabasas rented a truck, which city employees helped load, to deliver the supplies. Calabasas City Manager Tony Coroalles, Councilman Jonathon Wolfson and other city officials will join foundation leaders Godfrey and Robert Friedman on the 1,900-mile trek to Louisiana.

Coast to coast, help is on the way
Plaquemines getting truckloads of supplies

New Orleans Times Picayune
Friday, December 02, 2005

Plaquemines bureau

In separate cross-country hurricane relief efforts, a California city and the Boston Police Department this week are set to deliver trucks full of supplies for Plaquemines Parish schools and sheriff's deputies.

The first truck is set to arrive today in Belle Chasse after a 1,900-mile trip from the city of Calabasas in southern California. The 20-foot truck is bringing materials and computers for parish schools collected by Calabasas and the Spirit of Calabasas Foundation, foundation officials said.

The city of 23,000, a number slightly lower than the pre-Katrina population of Plaquemines Parish, began its hurricane relief drive after a Calabasas resident came to New Orleans with the Red Cross in the days after the storm. The city collected donated school supplies, including computers and other office equipment. The city rented the truck, and city employees are driving it to Plaquemines, where it's scheduled to be unloaded at ceremony today.

Foundation officials said they hope to set an example for volunteers in other cities across the country to seek out sister communities in the areas hit by the hurricane and offer assistance.

Also on the road this week is a 30-foot trailer with materials collected by the Boston Police Department for members of the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office.

About 130 of the office's 200 employees lost their homes and belongings during the storm, said reserve deputy Mike Jurina, who helped coordinate the delivery. He said Boston police officers collected several thousand dollars in donations and bought toiletries, toys, book bags and other materials for families of deputies.

"It's not right to leave the kids to suffer through the holidays," Jurina said.

Local company Versabar paid for the trip expenses. The truck is set to arrive Saturday.

Calabasas sharing the wealth
November 24, 2005
By Michael Picarella pic@theacorn.com

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 Foundation 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.