Hurricane Katrina Information
Last Updated February 10, 2006

All of us at ACM are deeply saddened by the disaster and ongoing aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. We are also concerned for the ACM members and their institutions caught in the wake of this tragedy. However, we are bolstered by the generosity and compassion of the children's museum community and the knowledge that we will rally our energy, creativity and resources to assist those who have been affected by this national disaster.

Confirmed Field Reports

ACM Museums in the Wake of Katrina

Louisiana
Louisiana Children's Museum (New Orleans)
The museum's staff of 40 is now at eight and its budget of $1,700,000 will likely decrease by 80 percent. While the museum (LCM) first thought it may open at the end of December 2005, it now anticipates opening within the next few months. The museum has a lot more roof damage than originally thought, and with each rain the claim gets more expensive and more complex. Now the museum has a number of upstairs exhibits that have sustained damage on several surfaces (walls, floors, murals, etc.). Roofers are extremely rare and over-booked and insurance claims take much time to process, so the damage continues.

On December 20, 2005, the LCM will have a book and toy give-away (the museum have been given about 5,000 of each). LCM's thirteenth annual New Year's event will be hosted this year at a nearby shopping mall. Preparations for the event have been trying as supplies and services are in great demand and low supply.

Mississippi

Lynn Meadows Children's Discovery Center (Gulfport) The Lynn Meadows Discovery Center Reopens May 6 with Third Annual Bear Creek Bluegrass Festival. Renovation on the first floor begin late February. The museum plans to reopen as two story museum and a multi-purpose room/building (being fabricated by IIT, Illinois Institute of Technology). Two of the first floor exhibits will be expanded since the museum does not plan to reopen its retail store. Its Artist Studio will become a multi-purpose room initially used for camps. According to staff, the museum will offer a slate of performing arts camps for summer. For the first time, five of the museums in Gulf Port are promoting their camps as a group with the theme "museum without walls" (several will offer camps in tents). According to staff, "A true gift for the MS Gulf Coast children and families would be a dynamic, exciting, engaging and FREE traveling exhibit. Our families would feel so encouraged to know that we are still on "the radar screen" of other cities in the U.S." As a fundraiser, the museum is selling 2006 Calendar of Hope calendars at $10 per calendar. The calendar features Gulfport children's art work and thoughts about Hurricane Katrina and LMDC. The Lynn Meadows Children's Discovery Center (LMDC) Web site posts the latest information on the condition and progress of the museums.

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ACM Museums Serving Evacuees

The following museums offered free admission to evacuees from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama with a valid ID or some other form of valid identification. Many of these museum also collected donations to benefit Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

Arizona Museum for Youth (Mesa)
Explorations V (Lakeland)
Miami Children's Museum (FL)
Chicago Children's Museum (IL)
DuPage Children's Museum (IL)
Grand Rapids Children's Museum (MI)
Children's Museum of Manhattan (NY)
Playspace Children's Museum (Raleigh, NC)
The Children’s Museum of South Carolina (Myrtle Beach)
EdVenture (Columbia, SC)
Creative Discovery Museum (Chattanooga, TN)
Austin Children's Museum (TX)
Children's Discovery Museum (Victoria, TX)
The Children's Museum of Brownsville (TX)
Dallas Children's Museum (TX)
Fort Worth Museum of Science and History (TX)
San Antonio Children's Museum (TX)
Betty Brinn Children’s Museum (Milwaukee, WI)
Central Wisconsin Children's Museum (Stevens Point)

Louisiana
Children's Museum of Acadiana (Lafayette)
The museum continues to serve evacuees from New Orleans. The museum is currently serving as a clearinghouse for community donations and as a pre-school for displaced children. To offer assistance to the Children's Museum of Acadiana, please email ACM.

The Children's Museum of Houston
The museum has seen and served more than 4,500 Louisiana visitors since the storm hit. The museum has been offering free admission to evacuees from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama with some form of valid identification. Tammie Kahn, the museum's executive director, reported on Monday, Sept. 12, that there are fewer than 5,000 people left in the “super” shelters now. That’s down from 30,000+ just one week ago. Many thousands have been moved to other states; the majority has been moved throughout Houston into available housing of all sorts and small shelters accommodating 50-100 people each. The museum is now focusing its efforts on working with the African American church community and other faith based communities who are providing support to the families as they settle into being new Houstonians. Kahn reports that the museum does not need assistance in serving families at this time. In fact, The Children's Museum of Houston Board members have given the museum more than enough funding to provide for its programming. One of the board members has asked to underwrite healthy lunches and snacks for all evacuees! The museum has put $2,000 on his tab so far.

ACM Members Collecting/Providing Donations

Arizona
Tucson Children's Museum
The Tucson Children's Museum collected donations during the month of September for the ACM Katrina Fund.

California
Discount School Supply (Monterey)
During the month of September, Discount School Supply donated 10 percent of customers order value to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and offered a 10 percent savings to customers, plus free shipping on orders more than $59. In October, Discount School Supply donated fun learning tools, art supplies and activities, totaling more than $12,000, to the Children's Museum of Acadiana (Lafayette, LA).

Bay Area Discovery Museum (Sausalito)
The museum will begin immediately and for the next six months to collect the proceeds of its gravity well to donate to causes serving children and families in the stricken areas.

District of Columbia
National Children’s Museum (Washington)
The museum would like to offer a donation of an exhibition to a hurricane or natural disaster stricken museum. The exhibit is a "MINOTAURMAZE Maze of Illusions." The exhibit is in very good condition and can be used either indoors or outdoors. It is approximately 1,100 square feet and can be installed in a variety of configurations. For additional information contact Veronica Szalus, Director of Exhibits, (202) 675-4130. For more information about the Maze of Illusions visit MinotaurMaze online.

Illinois
Kohl Children's Museum of Greater Chicago (Glenview)
The museum has offered to donate its "The Shoes We Use," which is a 1,200 sq. ft. exhibit, to one of the museums impacted by Hurricane Katrina. The exhibit is currently being stored in Atlanta after a great run at Imagine It! The Children's Museum of Atlanta. Eight interactives include a Giant Shoe House; Human size 3-D versions of the book Shoes, Shoes, Shoes by Ann Morris that encourages visitors to step into shoes to become part of the story; A Play Shoe Store, Match a Shoe, Sole Explorations, Shoe Sorting and a display case for six celebrity shoes (a pair of Michael Jordan and Oprah Winfrey's shoes included.)

Wonder Works, A Children's Museum in Oak Park
The museum is conducting a toy and book drive for children displaced by the hurricane. The museum is currently seeking partners for this effort. Partnerships have already been established with a local bookstore to provide a discount for victims. For more information, please contact Shira Belenke, Education & Program Manager.

The Children's Museum in Oak Lawn
The museum plans to establish a "Kids Helping Kids" fund for disaster relief for Hurricane Katrina victims. All monies collected will be donated to America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest charitable hunger relief organization. Kids will also have the opportunity to write a letter or draw a picture to send to children in disaster areas and the museum is disseminating a parent resource from the Creative Discovery Museum, Children and Disasters.

Maryland
Port Discovery, the Children's Museum in Baltimore
On Saturday, October 1, the museum hosted a series of performances of "The Money Game" to help raise funds for the ACM Katrina Fund. "The Money Game" is an interactive program created by Port Discovery to promote financial literacy. In this special edition of the game, play mentors explained how sharing money helps children effected by Hurricane Katrina. Audience members were encourgaged to match the dollar amount the children earned during each game with a monetary donation.

New Jersey
Liberty Science Center (Jersey City)
The museum has donated $5,000 of its September 5th attendance revenue to its sister institution, The Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center in Mobile, Alabama. The Exploreum suffered damage to areas of its building; one part was flooded with an estimated five feet of water.

North Carolina
Greensboro Children's Museum
On Sunday, September 11, Grandparents Day, the museum received more than $400 in donations for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. This money was sent to the Red Cross to support children in evacuee families who have come to Greensboro. A donation box remains in the museum lobby.

Pennsylvania
Please Touch Museum® (Philadelphia)
The museum has sent its entire inventory of the valuable publication, Helping Young Children Cope with Disaster, to museums currently sheltering storm evacuees. In addition, the museum has made this resource available for download via the ACM Web site. (See below) The museum has also secured sponsorship to reprint an additional 30,000 brochures for future dissemination.

Texas
The Woodlands Children's Museum
The museum is sponsoring a collection for Katrina victims to be donated to a senior care facility in Baton Rouge. For information on appropriate items for donation, please contact the museum at (281) 465-0955 or visit the museum's Web site.

Mayborn Museum Complex (Waco)
The museum is launching a project specifically to help displaced families and children attending public schools in Waco. The museum will assemble a backpack filled with school supplies, gift cards and a free museum pass for each child from the disaster area attending school in Waco. To offer assistance to the museum, please contact Ellie Caston, Director.

Washington
Imagine Children's Museum (Everett)
The museum will donate all funds donated from its "Buck for a Buddy" program during the entire month of September to support relief efforts for children.

Children's Museum of Skagit County (Mount Vernon)
The museum implimented a Caring Origami Crane activity. Two crane making sessions were scheduled in September. The museum will sell the cranes at $2 a piece as a means to raise donations for the ACM Katrina fund. The museum has also set out a donation jar to collect public donations for the fund.

Sustainable Relief Effort

Long-term assistance will be needed to help those in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. ACM is responding to needs with a comprehensive action plan, which was unanimously approved by the ACM Board of Directors on Wednesday, September 8, 2005.

First, ACM has established a Katrina Fund for the purpose of rebuilding Louisiana Children’s Museum (New Orleans) and Lynn Meadows Discovery Center (Gulfport, MS). ACM will accept contributions through June 30, 2006, to help rebuild the two museums. One hundred percent of contributions will be distributed; ACM will donate all administrative expenses. To date, ACM has received more than $7,800 in donations.

• To make a tax-deductible contribution, send a check made payable to: Association of Children's Museums. In the memo portion of the check, please indicate "Katrina Fund." Mail checks to ACM, 1300 L St., NW, Suite 975, Washington, DC 20005. ACM will provide a receipt for all donations. All contributors will be acknowledged in the ACM 2006 Annual Report.

Second, ACM will broker resources for Louisiana Children’s Museum, Lynn Meadows Discovery Center and children’s museums serving evacuees across the country. The brokering of resources will include activities such as partnership building and coordination of a volunteer labor pool.

• If you would like to offer your skills or labor please send ACM an email with your name, full contact information, your availability and the type of skill or labor you are willing to provide. Please note: In the subject line of the email please write: Volunteer Labor Pool.

Third, ACM will create connections for member museums with needs resulting from Hurricane Katrina. Specifically, a Web-based “Katrina Clearinghouse” has been established for museums to post needs and for others to post offers of assistance.

• Individuals and organizations are welcome to email ACM a brief description of needs or offers of assistance. Please note: In the subject line of the email please write: Katrina Clearinghouse.

The Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC) is collecting funds to help museums of all types (art, history, science, children's, zoos, aquaria and gardens) in the Gulf Coast region. To reduce administrative burden, funds cannot be designated for a specific type of museum. To send a contribution to the SEMC fund, make a check payable to SEMC with Hurricane Katrina Fund on the memo line. Mail checks to SEMC, P.O. Box 9003, Atlanta, GA 31106-1003.

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What Museums Can Do

When a tragedy occurs, it is our instinct to do something immediately. Certainly those who have ever lived through a crisis know that urgent care and assistance is needed. The question then becomes, what do people need and how can I help?

Here are some options to consider.

1. All museums should strive to maintain a consistent atmosphere of play and learning. To augment existing programs, and prepare for questions from caregivers and children, museums may wish to consider the following guides and materials.

2. If your museum is in an area where evacuees are located, you can offer free admission to these individuals and their families. You can also work with members of your community and established relief organizations to provide necessary resources. Read how ACM members are serving evacuees.

3. Museums can play an active role in the larger relief effort by collecting financial support at their institution. The American Red Cross and America's Second Harvest are accepting cash donations, which will directly help victims. Read how ACM members are collecting donations and providing support to children and families in crisis.

4. Finally, museums can participate in ACM's sustainable relief effort — help rebuild ACM member museums devastated by the hurricane through a cash donation or through an in-kind donation of goods or services.

If your museum has ideas to share with the field, or is currently doing something to benefit those effected by Hurricane Katrina please contact ACM.

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Talk with ACM

We have received dozens of emails and phone calls from the ACM community and we are so grateful for your messages. Please continue to talk with us. We want to hear from you. While it is not possible for us to respond to every email that comes to us, please know that we are reading and sharing information with others. We can be reached at acm@childrensmuseums.org.

We especially value communication about what your museum is doing to fundraise for the relief effort and if you have any confirmed reports about the whereabouts and well-being of ACM members, their staff or their museums. We will share all confirmed information we receive.

Now Open! ACM Online Message Board Chat Room

This feature allows ACM members to post ideas, comments and information about a variety of topics for others to read and respond to in kind. Please note that the Message Board is located in the Member's Only portion of the ACM Web site. You will be required to login and to submit a password. Instructions on how to post messages can be found in the October 14, 2005 E-Update. Contact ACM if you need the login and password information.

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Resources/Links

Download Helping Young Children Cope with Disaster, by Please Touch Museum®

The American Association of Museums (U.S.) Web site has information about the federal and technical assistance, first reports of museum-related damage, and information about how to contribute to the recovery is available.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children has posted an article with strategies to help families give children emotional support and show them they are safe during this crisis.

Family Communications, which for three decades produced MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD, has range of ideas and materials to help young children, their families, and those who support them in times of crisis.

Books for Preschoolers
The Flood That Came to Grandma's House, by Linda P. Stallone
This story illustrates what happens when a home becomes flooded with water through one family’s ordeal.

All-of-a-Sudden Susan, by Elizabeth Coatsworth
Tells the tale of a little girl and her family escaping from a flood.

The Big Flood, by Wendy Pfeffer and Vanessa Lubach
How one community responded when the Mississippi River flooded in 1993.

The Homeless Hibernating Bear, by Kids Livin’ Life
This story about Frankie, the hibernating bear, was written as a collaborative effort by a group of children. Frankie gets lost in Salt Lake City and is befriended by homeless children who return him to his mother safe and sound.

Books for Older Preschoolers/School-age Children
Wild Weather: Hurricanes! by Lorraine Jean Hopping and Jody Wheeler
Scholastic Books outlines the causes and effects of hurricanes.

Wild Weather: Floods! by Lorraine Jean Hopping and Jody Wheeler
Scholastic Books outlines the causes and effects of floods.

I’ll Know What to Do: A Kid's Guide to Natural Disasters, by Bonnie S. Mark, Aviva Layton and Michael Chesworth
Provides children facts about disasters and how to deal with and survive a disaster.

The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane (Magic School Bus Series), by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen
Children take a look inside the eye of a Hurricane while riding the magic bus.

Emotional Recovery After Natural Disasters: How to Get Back to Normal Life (An Idyll Arbor Personal Health Book),
by Ilana Singer
This book is filled with practical information and tactics for victims of natural disasters and the people who work with them.

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Betsy Grant, executive director of the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, sent us the following photos, which document the damage done by Hurricane Katrina.

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Katrina Clearinghouse

ACM established the Clearinghouse for museums to post needs and for others to post offers of assistance. Individuals and organizations are welcome to email ACM a brief description of needs or offers of assistance. Please note: In the subject line of the email please write: Katrina Clearinghouse.

Needs
At this time, we have not be notified of any needs other than a request for donations to the Katrina Fund.

Offers of Assistance

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