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September 02, 2005Memphis Steps UpI just got off the phone with Jeffrey Feld of the Memphis Allied Jewish Federation, and he described a community that's coming together in a big way to provide appropriate services to the hundreds of Jewish refugees and evacuees that the city is seeing. They appear to be trying to find long-term housing for people, which is a good sign, as well as placing kids in the appropriate school, rustling up clothing and food, and paying for medicines until insurance information can be reconstructed. Feld estimated that about 5,000 of New Orleans's 10,000 Jews were known to be in Houston, with Memphis taking in hundreds. When I asked him what they needed, he interrupted the "?" at the end of my question to say, "Money." The fact is, Memphis has an abundance of stuff. I'm sure that local merchants are donating plenty of items. But over the longer term, people will need to pay for things. So right now, money. You can email Jeffrey at jfeld@memjfed.org, or call him at (901) 767-7100. Don't be shy about contacting specific local organizations as well, such as synagogues and social service agencies. Each one has an appropriate and sudden role to play. Posted by joshuasharf at September 2, 2005 03:14 PM | TrackBack |