This is deplorable. Did the goverment (state or federal) not have something in place to assist in distribution and storage of these wonderful donations? It does not help those that need them if it is sitting in a gas station parking lot getting ruined.

This is a disgrace. Many folks packed these items with love and good intentions. To have these items sit, is just another example of how much our government still needs to learn when a catastophe strikes.

Okay so where is this stuff exactly located so
I can get a truck, pick it up and take it to
storage for the next disaster?

Generosity is wonderful and we have to remember the reason it was sent was to be helpful. If the citizens in need don't search out the help offered and take it, how can anyone be to blame for that. Anyone passing by can take what is available and spread the word. Everyone has to be responsible.

What is the charity that they are being sent to?Who is responsible for distributing donations? Who deposits the boxes in this lot? I do not intend to blame any government until i know where it came from. Instead of blaming, please whomever is responsible, post your info here. What else is needed. Racks, renting a Locale for a month. Does it need to be moved. Please tell and maybe we can help. Don't let the donations go to waste.

This is absolutely discusting! All of those items are going to waste. Do the people of the area not know that the items are there? If they do they should be ashamed. If they can't use the donations then take a little bit of it and pass it on to someplace that will. My 10 year old boys ransacked their rooms after the hurricane to find things (their own things) to send to the victims and to think our donations could just be sitting there turning into garbage....next time we will just send our donations somewhere local.

A local agency needs to take responsibility for those donations. The breakdown is in LOCAL government for NOT taking responsibility for those donations. How hard is it to find a group of regular volunteers and dispatch them to a empty storefront where the clothing could be seperated into appropriate racks and distributed as needed. Lets think about this for a second too.. How many pairs of USED items would you yourself own when NEW stuff is being offered up to you as well.. Not much I am sure. These people are thinking about food and shelter, clothing is last on their list of items they need right now for the adults. People with children are not there, there are no schools open..
How much do any of us need when we have no children? And no house to store any stuff? And no insurance money coming to help rebuild my house?

Are the people of this city that well off, that they have the choice to pick and choose. It just goes to show that some people just don't get it. People reached out to help by sending these donations. Pack them up and send them to a shelter where others less fortunate will appreciate the donations.

Again, the media puts a negative slant on everything. Why don't we hear how this situation got like this and what is being done to remedy it? Perhaps there is a plan to distribute these items and no one bothered to find out and report it? Why do we want to publicize something that will only discourage people from helping people? Where are the GOOD stories in this Katrina mess? I'm sure there are a lot of good things being done out there to assist......isn't there?

If this country can waste billions on Iraq, it seems to me all that clothing that is not going to be picked up by a certain date the goverment should have some of it boxed and shipped to earthquake victims or any nation that would appreciate it.

I just arrived home last night from the Gulfport area, after being gone 11 days from my home in Anchorage, Alaska, serving with a group from my church in several cities, including Gulfport, Bay St. Louis, and Pass Christian, plus smaller communities. Yes, there are parking lots full of unorganized clothing in several cities we served in, and no, I don't know "who's responsible," etc. It made me angry too, and if I could have done something about it then I would have. But my team and I were too busy removing trees and debris from yards and feeding hungry people. The people down there are still in shock and are trying to survive the best they can. Cut the armchair quarterbacking and the criticism, will you? If you want to help, contact the folks at www.prccompassion.org. That's the organization we went through that has a local church in Gulfport directing operations for them. They are one of many non-government organizations working in the area.

i have been to waveland and served in a tent giving out clothes to about 1000 people a day.the tent is in the k-mart parking lot in waveland.the food and clothes tents are being run by a partnership of churches.Christian Life Church of Alabama,Heartland Community Church of Rockford Il. and Willow Creek Church of South Barrington Il. to name a few.They have all clothes sorted by gender and size.FEMA and the Red Cross are studying this operation for its efficiency.Teams of volunteers (35) are being shuttled down from illinois continuously twice a week to serve our brothers in waveland and the surrounding area.

My husband and I arrived in Bay St. Louis two weeks after Katrina hit. You still couldn't get through the majority of the streets, there was no electricity or water and debris was right where Katrina left it. But, the parking lots were already filled with food, clothing and basic necessity donations.

If the government had a system in place for distribution and/or storage of the donations, it certainly wasn't visible. No one, however, could have anticipated the total devastation of Bay St. Louis/Waveland. Homes are completely gone, trees are gone, cars are gone and, to be honest, most of the residents are gone. Any public building safe enough to enter is being used as shelter for emergency workers.

It's not that the donations aren't appreciated and/or needed. There's literally no place to store any of these items until people can return to the area nor people to organize the effort. We'll go back in November, but in the meantime, when anyone asks what they can do to help, we suggest they volunteer to help clean up the clean up!

It's easy to see why most people would be sad or frustrated by the sight of these donations being wasted but I like this picture. Bear with me for a minute and I'll explain why--

There are a number of reasons why these clothes were wasted. First, most of the people they were intended for are not here. They aren't in Waveland or New Orleans or in most cases even close. Most of the people who needed them lost thier holmes and had to leave. The lucky ones had a friend or a relative within a hundred miles- most are scattered all over the country.
The second point is that for those who had a house to come back to, clothes were not a priority. You had the clothes you left with and your just wanted to get back to your place and salvage as much as you could. You quickly realised that what was important was water and something to eat followed by a chain saw(to get the trees off your house) or gloves and a mask so you could rip out your carpet and pull out your sheetrock before the mold/muck destroyed what was left.
The local authorities were overwelmed by the magnitude of the disaster and anyone who had faired relatively well was helping everyone else.
Simply put, no one could dedicate the time needed to deal with donations like this and some of them(mostly clothes)were not well used.
So that's why this "stuff" is on the street in front of an Exxon.
And why do I like to see it?-- because I know that it is just "stuff" but I also know that I can look at each pile and know that someone cared enough and took the time to give every shirt and pair of pants there. That somewhere in those boxes is some little girl's favorite doll and if we looked closely we might find a small piggy bank. Maybe we would find out that the assorted baby formula came from a mother who couldn't really afford it but that understood how important it would be to another mother and her baby. That's what makes this a beautiful picture.
If this pictue still makes you sad, then take another look. To me it represents the loving and caring people who where part of it. The "stuff' was a small loss compared to the message that came with it. That message helped us through this ordeal in a way that no material help could.
We are eternally gratefull to all those who helped us in so many ways. We've had workers and volunteers here from every part of the country working 12-18 hours a day/seven days a week, sleeping on cots in the heat... and I haven't yet heard a negative word from one of them.
I pray you will never need the kind of help you have given us but if you do, I trust that you too, will know that you are not alone.

We just came back from Bay St. Louis last weekend. You cannot begin to comprehend the devastation. The people of Bay St. Louis are desperate for help and many are unable to get help, even professional help. The churches have stacks of work orders from the community and they are housing and bringing in teams of people daily. There is a ton of help, but such a need for so much more. Before you complain about the donations being organized, please ask yourself, what is more important, the stuff or helping the people of Waveland and Bay St. Louis so that they have shelter. Because they are left with nothing and insurance is simply not paying, they are desperate for all the help they can get. Please get a group together and go and help. When you get there you will realize the incredible blessing it was to have the donations that were given to help our team. The First Baptist Church in Bay St. Louis is like a Wal-Mart. As we were working and needed cleaners, tools, rags, anything, we walked across the street to pick up anything we needed. Their entire fellowship hall was filled with organized clothing that the residents are aware of and are taking advantage of. Thank you for donating because if it was not for you and your donations, I do not know what our team would have done. If any group wants to go to the First Baptist Church in Bay St. Louis and help them remove the 2 feet of mud in their sanctuary so they can house more people and items, please go.
The truth is exactly what the previous person said, any public building safe enough to enter is being used to house workers and the churches, government and community are doing everything in their power to meet the needs of this incredible devastation. Please listen to the truth from people that have been there and do not allow the media's negativity to influence your opinion. I personally only saw 2 gas stations this way. Many of the donations are being organized and sorted so please do not stop giving. They are so needed.

How can the government control this? THeir is no government in these towns. THere is no infrastructure. Also, while I admire the people who donated, these are old, obsolete clothes.

I personally have benefitted from the generous donations from all over the country. I live in Bay St. Louis. I had no shoes and few clothes after the storm. A pair of size 9 sneakers got me through the first several weeks and I am sincerely grateful!! I too see clothing stacked out in the open but there are numerous places where the items are well organized and under shelter. It makes me sad to hear the comments from people who have no idea what has happened here critisizing us and accusing us of being ungrateful. There are still people living in tents and under tarps, they are grateful too but they don't have room to keep alot of clothing and they are pre-occupied with more basic needs like food, water and shelter. There are so many wonderful people here from all over who have sacrificed their vacations and time away from their families and work. We, the people of the gulf coast are eternally grateful. Please dont critisize until you have walked in our shoes.

After just returning from a week of relief work in Mississippi, please go easy on these poor people. When supplies come in, there is honestly no place to go with all the donations. The churches we saw are doing the best they can to distribute supplies, but they were heavily damaged or destroyed as well. They are working bringing in workers from across the country, desperately trying to bring help to the community around them, but it is not even putting a band aid on the situation, when there are people without homes, vehicles, food, and all the things we regularly take for granted. People are walking around with just the clothes on their back. My prayers are with y'all, and I will be back to help again soon!!

18,000 pair of underwear arrived yesterday for distribution under the tent in the k-mart parking lot in waveland.i personnally helped give away 2 truckloads of clothes in 3 days in waveland.the donations are needed.food water and clothes now.help with rebuilding soon.

I was in Bay St. Louis. Right now sorting the clothes is the least of their worries. They get what they need as they need it. They are not going to take more than that as it is not fair to others. It is far better that there are too many donations than not enough. Stop criticizing those trying to help and if you want to help, send money or listen to what is needed before you donate.

I am a disaster response worker having been in the Gulf Coast areas now since Aug 29th. I've been to the areas of Hankcock & Harrison county south of the railroad tracks, and now into LA parishes for Rita recovery as well. The residents are grateful for any and all assistance, I can assure you. Yes, concerned citizens, local, state, and Federal officials are working together to meet the needs of residents. Not always will it be to everyone's likes or dislikes, decisions are made as best they can at the time they are made. Neighbors do help neighbors, and help has come from many far away neighbors as well. The strength of the people has been tested since landfall of Katrina and Rita both residents and recovery teams. Officials have asked to channel donations in the form of cash mostly into the Red Cross or other organizations simply because of the shortages of warehousing abilities for many coastal communities. Please continue your support by registering for volunteer programs, Churches, Red Cross, Salvation Army etc and or sending any cash donations to the your chosen charity/non-profit organization. Know that anything other Americans have done for the Gulf Coast residents has simply not been ignored, but deeply, deeply appreciated, I see it 7 days a week on the faces of the people I meet. Recovery is happening, in some areas it's still simply "one day at a time"--Thank you

I worked at the Waveland Free Market and Cage for a week. It was all we could do to sort food, cleaning supplies and hygiene products people sent. The clothing is in piles at the back of the parking lot and when the people went through the boxes it looked like seagulls at the beach. We prayed in group for someone to come and organize the clothing donations. Just a note, when a relief center is serving 600 people on weekdays and 2000 people on Sat and Sunday, it's fairly hectic trying to open boxes and sort goods. If your church or organization is doing a donation drive, take an extra step and "sort" the products before you ship them, ie. put all shampoo in one box, all soap in another, etc. These people are living in the woods and need Mosquito repellant, calomine lotion etc. If you are sending sheets, wrap the fitted sheet with the flat and pillow cases, tape them together and mark the size. FEMA trailors have a full/queen mattress in them and many children have twin bunks. PLEASE send Liquid Laundry Detergent. Many have little or no hot water. We were literally bagging up dry soap powder (5 scoops to a baggie) to hand out. ALSO Fabric Softner, this may seem trivial to you but if you're washing in a bucket or bathtub with dry soap powder then have to use a clothes line, these clothes aren't the most comfortable. Washing clothes is a big issue and it may be why some have left so much clothing lying in the parking lots. They do not have washers, dryers rows of cleaning products to choose from at the local grocery store, etc. Ladies actually cried when they saw clothline and clothes pins in the relief buckets. Some one please send a bunch of this! I am starting a drive in Tampa for Shovels, Rakes, Brooms and Mops. Do something in your town OTHER than clothes. We heard on the news early on, please do not send clothes. If you want to clean out something, clean out your shed and send your unneeded garden tools or clean out your wallet and send something to clean these clothes with. Like all the other volunteers who posted, my heart is with these people. After meeting them, I know they would do the same for me.

This is absolutley digusting. These people spent their time and effort donating these needed items only for it to be wasted. If local people were informed of this good will, i guarantee these items would not go to waste.

This story on the overflow of clothing was posted well over a month ago at www.sunherald.com. Here's the link:
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/special_packages/hurricane_katrina/communities/gulfport/12699175.htm
If you can't copy/paste the link, then just go to www.sunherald.com and click on the "city by city" section, then click on Gulfport. This city section gives you past and present news from Gulfport and the surrounding smaller cities. These are the stories that will give you the real picture of what life is like in these communities as the weeks of recovery go by.

I am from Bay St. Louis, MS. My kids and I lost everything. Most people I know here, are overwhelmed with gratitude regarding the help we have received. I don't know how any of the distribution points in the beginning stages could have been organized in such a war zone, choatic state of affairs. As time pasted, tents with air conditioning being blown in were put up. I shopped for clothes and found some wonderful items, some still with the price tag still on them. It was extremely hot searching for clothes, towels, sheets, etc. on that pavement and one could only take so much of it. To all the people that appear to be angry, let me say this: we ARE very grateful and I don't know what we would have done without your generous donations. I hope you will also take into consideration how much we have to deal with here. The manual labor I experienced over a 3 week time period exhausted me and others. I personally was surprised that I was able to be so physical when I needed to be. There just weren't enough hours in the day it seemed. Please know that everyone here is grateful. I don't know what we would have done without the generous donations ya'll have made.....whether it was organized or not, really didn't seem to matter - the donations were there for us and so I say God Bless to all of you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.