As JFK said, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." I plan to use all of the resources through print media and technology that are at my disposal to tell the stories of people affected by this unprecedented devastation and to provide opportunities for all of us to help. Please join me. As manufacturers of handmade beauty products, we are in a unique opportunity to help. The beauty products we make -- salves, soaps, foot balms, powders, lotions ... -- and the accessories we sell -- wash cloths, candles ... -- are all created on a personal scale with great love, care and attention to detail.

Handmade Beauty Network Member Efforts

Dr. Joseph Freeman, owner of Theodore Products, is a medial doctor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His family is fine and he is at this moment working around the clock to establish a clinic to help the victims. He says, "I live in Baton Rouge and I am only an hour away from the worst devastation I have ever seen. As a medical doctor, I am doing all I can to help. Please pray for us." For those who are interested, you can enjoy Dr. Freeman's September 5 interview on National Public Radio. Dr. Freeman is setting up a clinic to provide much needed medical assistance, intravenous fluids, syringes, medications and more. You may send monetary donations to aid in the purchase of these and other medical items to Dr. Freeman at:

Free Life Medical Assistance (checks should not be made out to Dr. Freeman personally)
6229 Riverbend Lakes Drive
Baton Rouge, LA 70820

Dr. Freeman sent HBN these pictures of him and his colleagues in action. As you can see, the flooding was (and still is) massive. Supplies continue to be flown into the area from around the world. Dr. Freeman and friends unload some at a local airport as you can see from the photos below.

Angie Schumaker of Magnolia's Natural Beauty in Denham Springs, about 50 miles from New Orleans, is a registered nurse and is helping out at a local church. If you can donate diapers and baby wipes, their most pressing need at the moment, please do. Please mail donations as quickly as possible, using an overnight delivery service if you can (request no signature required) to:

Kim Baron of FallenMuse WebWorks is discounting her already discounted services for members who need button ads created to help brand and market their services. Between now and September 18, she will donate 100% of her fee for button ads -- that's $150 for non-members and $75 for members - to the Second Harvest Katrina Relief Fund. If you have been putting off getting a button ad to display in HBN's Featured Member Rotation, now is the time to do so, while also helping others.

10% of the profits from this month's Handmade Beauty Banquet will be donated to the Salvation Army to help families in the gulf coast. Also, my husband, a freelance video photographer with ABCNews, has been sent to New Orleans to cover the story.

• On September 7, HBN member Bella Luccè (South Carolina) donated 50% of the purchase price of every item sold through their website to the American Red Cross’s hurricane relief efforts. Product prices were also reduced 15% to encourage participation.
• HBN member A Wild Soap Bar (Texas) donated 330 bars of handmade soap to shelters in Austin, TX, that are housing thousands of hurricane victims.
• HBN member Outer Body Experience (Colorado) donated over 600 bars of soap to displaced families flown into Colorado and Florida
• HBN member Johnetta Miner of Women's Wellness (New York) has been added to the list of medical professionals that may be deployed to assist hurricane survivors through the Department of Health and Human Services
• HBN member Essential Wholesale (Oregon) is manufacturing a special run of their Natural Bug Off Sanitizing Gel to send to hurricane victims on September 19, and they have also collected other items and made a financial donation to relief efforts.
• HBN member Good Medicine Tin (Florida) donated essential oils to the United Aromatherapy Effort, a creative, helpful and courageous group of many aromatherapy practitioners and massage therapists who are providing all kinds of relief to gulf coasters. They are giving needed aromatherapy treatments, massages and more. Please visit their website to see all of the wonderful things they are doing now (and also did immediately after September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in NYC), and how you can help them help the heroes.
• HBN member Maxine Blanchette of Have It Yur-Way is working with her church to make Red Cross donations and encouraging her customers to do so through her website.
• HBN member Marge Clark of Nature's Gift is donating 2% of every Wednesday order in September to the Americares Hurricane Relief Fund and 2% to the ASPCA's Disaster Relief Fund. Plus a doctor in New Orleans who is using essential oils on Katrina survivors is getting free Nature's Gift oils to aid in her efforts.
• Edna Roberts of HBN member Creative Lady Soap Shoppe donated 200 bars of soap, many of them "kid novelty soaps" to the Hurricane Katrina survivors through a high school that coordinated a toiletries drive in her area. The soaps were labeled with inspiring and uplifting messages of hope.
• HBN member inky loves nature donated some of her products to the Craft Revolution, which has raised over $20,000.
• HBN member Body Wisdom West is donating 20% of sales to the American Red Cross and Noah's Wish relief efforts.

If you are a member of the Handmade Beauty Network and you take advantage of these or other opportunities to help, write to me about what you are doing! While time does not permit the announcement of all relief efforts or the coordination of individual efforts over and above those listed here, selected HBN member related efforts will be posted here.

Additional Efforts

American Red Cross 1-800-HELP NOW (435-7669) English 1-800-257-7575 Spanish www.redcross.org America's Second Harvest 1-800-344-8070 www.secondharvest.org Catholic Charities, USA 703 549-1390 www.catholiccharitiesusa.org Christian Disaster Response 941-956-5183 or 941-551-9554 www.cdresponse.org Christian Reformed World Relief Committee 1-800-848-5818 www.crwrc.org Church World Service 1-800-297-1516 www.churchworldservice.org Convoy of Hope 417-823-8998 www.convoyofhope.org Lutheran Disaster Response 800-638-3522 www.elca.org

Mennonite Disaster Service 717-859-2210 www.mds.mennonite.net Nazarene Disaster Response 888-256-5886 www.nazarenedisasterresponse.org Noah's Wish (animal rescue and shelter) www.noahswish.com/Donations.htmOperation Blessing 530-622-9313 Presbyterian Disaster Assistance 800-872-3283 www.pcusa.org Salvation Army 1-800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769) www.salvationarmyusa.org Southern Baptist Convention 1-800-462-8657, ext. 6440 www.sbc.net United Methodist Committee on Relief 1-800-554-8583 gbgm-umc.org/umcor