Get Involved with Oil Clean Up

In the months and years following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, thousands of volunteers flocked to the area to help Louisiana families and businesses rebuild. And thousands more who couldn’t physically be here supported fundraising efforts through direct donations and by purchasing hurricane-relief merchandise.

As we enter the third month of the oil disaster off our coast, people are once again looking for ways to help. This time, however, many local residents who have not been directly impacted by the oil spill (as they were following Katrina and Rita) are willing and able to help their own.

Unfortunately, getting involved in clean up efforts is proving to be more difficult with this crisis. Due to the nature of the Louisiana marsh lands, it is not possible to have hundreds of volunteers come to the coast for the types of beach sweeps that usually occur following an oil spill. Direct clean up efforts in the Gulf waters are being coordinated by British Petroleum (BP) through the Vessel of Opportunity program. And finally, since this crisis deals with toxins, certain training is required to become a hands-on volunteer.

So what can you do to help? The Gulf Response Involvement Team (GRIT) is coordinating volunteer and fundraising efforts. GRIT is a cooperative of several non-profit organizations: Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BPNEP), Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Audubon, National Wildlife Federation, and Nature Conservancy.

While there has been no call for volunteers to date, GRIT is registering people so they will be able to act if and when the need arises. Types of anticipated activities include:

• Rescue and care for injured wildlife (proper training required)
• Support wildlife rescue operations
• Shoreline monitoring and damage assessments
• Shoreline cleanup
• Manage and transport donated supplies
• Transportation and staging support
• Food preparation and distribution
• Database or website management
• Special skills and services (remote sensing, aerial monitoring, technical services, communication skills)

Log on to www.LAGulfResponse.org to register.

According to Amanda Moore, Louisiana coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation, donations are probably the easiest and most efficient way to assist in the clean up. “People can give to GRIT or to any organization they feel comfortable with,” she said.

Non-profit conservation organizations have also teamed up with local designers to support the sale of specially-designed merchandise with proceeds benefiting the organizations. For instance, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation’s Save Our Coast aligned itself with local designer Two Sprouts for the sale of “spOILed: Save Our Coast & Wildlife” onesies, tees and bumper stickers. “We’ve always been civic minded,” said co-owner Erica Adams, “but this time we wanted to do something substantial. More than 60 percent of our sales are being given to the Basin Foundation.”

Other designers working for the cause include Elizabeth Wright of Heather Elizabeth Designs (proceeds benefit National Wildlife Federation), Save NOLA and jewelry designer Jose Balli (benefiting Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana), Fleurty Girl (Audubon Nature Institute), Mignon Faget and Shutzilla (benefitting unspecified Gulf restoration organizations). ◗