A local executive is one of many Coloradans who have found a way to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Jerry Long, a vice president with CH2MHill who oversees disposal of Rocky Flats wastes, once lived in New Orleans and has family there.
“I started thinking, ‘What is the first thing we need to do other than saving people’s lives? We need to stop the flow of water into the city,”‘ Long said.
Rocky Flats, the former nuclear-trigger manufacturing plant in Jefferson County, uses indestructible bags that can hold up to 24,000 pounds without ripping, Long said – perfect for loading with sand to shore up levees.
Around 10 p.m. Tuesday, Long telephoned the emergency operations center of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to talk about his idea.
“Give me all you can,” was the response from the engineers, Long said.
Six hundred bags were shipped from Tennessee on Wednesday, Long said. Another 220 at Rocky Flats were loaded into trucks.
Golden-based Coors Brewing Co. is donating $100,000 to the American Red Cross and matching every dollar its employees contribute, said spokeswoman Kabira Hatland.
Qwest Communications International Inc. is matching employee donations up to $250,000 to send to relief efforts. The Denver-based phone company is also sending 2,000 long-distance calling cards.
And the University of Colorado-Boulder is allowing students whose universities have shut down because of the hurricane to enroll late at CU. At least 12 who were going to school in New Orleans have requested late admission to CU, said Kevin MacLennan, interim director of admissions.
Faith-based groups are also helping.
“As we get the information from our headquarters,” said the Rev. Mark Hill of Cleaves Memorial Church, “we will certainly begin putting together little boxes of things that are needed.”
Many are being told through phone calls and forwarded e-mails from their regional and district offices that sending donations rather than traveling to the hot zone is best.
Garry DeGarmo decided to contact his priest at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Grand Junction, who got in touch with the Episcopal diocese in Baton Rouge, La.
“I thought to myself that I had a motor home and a cargo trailer. I’m going to hook it up and fill it up, ” said DeGarmo, who owns a construction company.
DeGarmo plans to stuff his 25-foot trailer with all the personal-care items and monetary donations he can manage and drive to Baton Rouge, where the diocese will set up a staging area.
“I would ask that if somebody else has the means to travel, that they join us,” he says. “We are definitely going to be coming through Denver, so it would be really neat if we had a delightful caravan of several people with trailers heading to Baton Rouge.”
Staff writers Jennifer Brown and Sheba Wheeler contributed to this report.
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
