Document text
- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 30, 2005 Ashland contingent prepares for Katrina aid trip Activists and residents hope to make a difference in shattered New Orleans By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings A 40-foot long, biodiesel-powered tour bus will embark on a road trip to bring aid, a helping hand and maybe even some social justice to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. On Friday morning, the Oxygen Collective’s semi-famous biodiesel bus will head out of Ashland, filled with about 40 activists from all over Southern Oregon, bound for the Big Easy. But there is still one last chance to wish this group, aptly named the Southern Oregon Gulf Coast Relief Network, bon voyage at the going-away party being held Thursday night from 8:30 until whenever the fun ends at the Mobius in Ashland. “The party is to wish us well, give us some support and energy and possible even some funds,” said Stu O’Neill, one of the founding members of the Ashland-based Oxygen Collective. O’Neill will be one of the many Ashlanders embarking on the 2,600-mile trip from here to the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans, where some of the worst conditions resulting from Katrina’s effects, and the various levels of government’s failures, still linger. “It’s going to be an epic journey,” O’Neill said. “The group is constantly expanding. Some people are going down on the bus, others are flying down and are going to meet us down there.” Peter O’Connell is a member of the group who will be flying down. “I’m going to fly out the same day and be there to meet them when they arrive,” he said. O’Connell recently returned from New Orleans. In fact, the pictures he showed of his experience was part of the impetus to form this new group. “I came back and started to share stories and spread the word,” he said. “When people realized some of the civil rights and social issues that were going on down there, they felt the need to get involved.” “It feels really good to be going down with these people,” he said. “When I was down there the first time, I was bragging about my community of friends and what a great place I came from.” O’Connell and fellow activist Kerul Dyer left the Ashland area just after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area. They got to the area in time to experience some of Hurricane Rita. Dyer is still in New Orleans. “A lot of the work we were doing was delivering material aid, getting food, water and medical supplies to the communities being neglected,” he said. On this trip, he plans to put his teaching skills to good use and possibly start some “alternative educational models.” “New Orleans schools are notoriously bad,” he said. “Now they are not functional at all. People are interested in rebuilding but they don’t want to come back because there are no educational opportunities for their kids.” O’Neill said the group will be bringing or picking up along the way all the necessary supplies for helping to remove the rubble and rebuild the city. There are still some available seats on the bus if anyone would like to join the group in their mission. For more information on either the trip or Thursday night’s party, call 951-5105. Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 3040 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams