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Read the Op-ed "Lessons from Gustav" by Mark Shriver, Vice President and Managing Director of U.S. Programs for Save the Children

WESTPORT, Conn. (Sept. 3, 2008) — While keeping a watchful eye on three new storms growing in strength in the Atlantic Ocean, Save the Children continues to assist thousands of children and families forced from their homes as a result of Hurricane Gustav.

On Wednesday, Save the Children staff members were assisting children in more than 20 shelters in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Trever and his family at a Louisiana shelter.

Responding to an urgent call for help from Save the Children to meet the needs of infants at several shelters, Toys“R”Us and CVS/pharmacy provided the agency with more than 50,000 diapers, as well as baby wipes, diaper ointment, baby shampoo, and 200 infant cribs. 

"We have been providing as many as 7,000 diapers a day at some shelters," said Jeanne-Aimee De Marrais, who is managing Save the Children's response to the emergency in the Gulf. "We are very grateful for this additional support." 

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Hanna is growing in strength and could hit the U.S. East Coast later this week. Two other storms, Ike and Josephine, are both moving westward across the Atlantic and pose a potential threat to the U.S. next week.

Coordinating closely with the agency's Gulf Coast staff, Save the Children emergency experts in Louisiana and Mississippi have been supplying evacuation centers with items to make infants' and children's stays more comfortable.

Save the Children has distributed 1,500 evacuation backpacks to displaced children. The backpacks provide children a range of items, including personal items such as a toothbrush, soap and a wash cloth, safety items like a flashlight and whistle, and toys such as a Teddy Bear.

In addition, staff members have set up Safe Spaces at many shelters. Safe Spaces are designed to let children be children, even in the midst of a crowded emergency shelter, and include a supervised area filled with toys, art supplies, books and games.

A volunteer team of New Jersey fire fighters yesterday joined Save the Children's effort at shelters in Louisiana and Mississippi. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the fire fighters built playgrounds for children impacted by the storm, with Save the Children's support.

As families leave the evacuation centers later this week, Save the Children plans to work to ensure that child-care centers can quickly re-establish services and schools can rebound so students do not fall behind in their education.

"Children are extremely vulnerable during an emergency and evacuation," said Mark Shriver, Save the Children's vice president for U.S. programs. "We know from experience that their needs are often overlooked during the confusion before, during and after a disaster. Save the Children is there to provide safe activities for children in shelters and to help them and their parents return to the normalcy once the danger has passed."

Save the Children — which assisted over 190,000 children and caregivers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama after Hurricane Katrina — continues to provide long-term education and nutrition programs in the Gulf region.