Camp Sister Spirit Still in Dire Need of Help

Camp Sister Spirit, the campground ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, has put out another urgent plea for help.

“We knew when we began to help the victims of Katrina it would be a long recovery,” said Pat Cobb of the Southern Womyns Festival who has been assisting with relief efforts. “We are asking people to continue to send funds and help to Camp Sister Spirit. We can tell by an email we got from Andie at the camp that the Bush Administration and FEMA are not doing the job. We donate and give money in so many ways, at Publix, Walgreens; etc. But if you send the money directly to Camp Sister Spirit you know you are helping women and their local community.”

Cobb said there will be no middle man or CEO getting a cut of the money sent and that donations will go directly to the survival of a women’s campground in Mississippi. Cobb is appealing to all, that if they have an extra $5 or $10 this week to send it to Camp Sister Spirit because it will add up.

“They appreciate every donation,” said Cobb.

Andie, of Camp Sister Spirit, said the camp is up to having distributed about a million and a half pounds of food now and still working.

“We just had friends come from Pennsylvania, Leda and Stacey who brought a horse trailer full of things,” said Andie. “Most of the food came from an Amish community in Pennsylvania. Our pantry was getting low and it is restocked once more. Thank God.”

Andie said FEMA came to visit the camp but would not do anything to help them.

“I ran the camp last year on $15,000 which is way below the poverty level for a single person much less an organization, though small, manages to do big things,” she said. “I barely paid the electric bill last year much less an insurance note. FEMA says we have to take out an SBA loan. I can’t make payments on this.”

Andie said FEMA looked at her losses in her small home that entailed stress cracks in all the walls, half of her roof laying in the backyard, and water damage all over.