Update from Friends at NHPC--Hurricane Katrina Relief

Dear Friends,

The first load of hay, feed and supplies is on its way from DeKalb, IL to Gonzales, LA! The truck will arrive in LA late Sunday evening or early Monday morning.

Thanks to the generous donations of many people, some 550 bales of hay, 60 or so bags of shavings, several tons of horse feed, dozens of halters, leads, water and feed buckets, medical supplies, and a variety of other much needed items are now enroute to the Lamar Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales!

The Lamar Dixon Expo Center is the designated holding facility for horses who are being rescued throughout greater New Orleans and surrounding communities. The horses are being cared for by a wonderful staff of dedicated veterinarians and volunteers who are addressing the horses veterinary needs as well as providing daily care and feedings.

I would like to thank the many people who donated time, money or supplies to make this relief effort possible, first and foremost, our wonderful team of truck drivers, John and Barb Hendrickson of Danville, IL ; Schneider Trucking Company, for donating the trailer; Blackberry Feed Station in Elburn, IL for their generous donation of feeds and bedding; local hay growers Ben Anderson, Jim Burnett, Steve Hillison, Ann Jackson, Roger Klein, Dale Maile, and Scott Yordy; Fred and Bonnie Walker who donated use of their out-building for storage; the many horsemen of Illinois Horse Online for donations of supplies and cash; the horsemen of the Chronicle of the Horse forums for their generous financial contributions; the many horse lovers who sent in donations for fuel and supplies, and finally the volunteers who helped to load the truck.

A big thank you goes to the Animal Welfare Institute and Doris Day Animal League for their generous financial grants to this effort. These two groups, who started the national campaign to end horse slaughter, have also helped bring so many together for the horses.

I also want to send a special thanks to my very dear friends Eddie Kilroy and "Catfish" of the Hank's Place radio show, and the Hank's Place posse members (truckers) who are all just simply amazing!. Without the help of Eddie, Catfish and the 'posse," this shipment of supplies would not have been possible!

Getting our first load of supplies down into the disaster area posed a great many problems along the way, but now that we have established the correct channels necessary to gain entrance to the area (thanks to the hard work of Jerry Finch and his team at Habitat for Horses!), we fully intend to continue to funnel supplies for horses for weeks if not months to come.

The teams on the ground in LA and MS are only just beginning to assess how many horses have been displaced, and it is anticipated that the numbers will be very great.

That said, we can only sustain this effort with your continued support. We have several loads of donated hay and trucks ready to go, we just need to be able to keep the trucks fueled up! Please continue to help us help the horses by spreading the word of this relief effort and by making a financial contribution.

http://www.horse-protection.org/info.php?id=75
or

http://www.habitatforhorses.org/whatsnew/katrina.html

If you have hay or feed to contribute to this effort or if you would like to start an effort in your area to gather hay and feed for the animal victims of Katrina, please call me at 815-761-4937 or email to glv190@aol.com

Again, our deepest heartfelt thanks to all who helped to make this much needed relief effort possible!

Gail Vacca
Illinois Coordinator
National Horse Protection Coalition
DeKalb, Illinois
Tel: 815-761-4937
Fax: 815-787-4957
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http://www.horse-protection.org