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News and Facts: News Safe Kids and Hurricane Katrina
Two major car seat manufacturers - Evenflo and Graco - answered the call with donations and special purchase plans through Mercury Distributing that enabled Safe Kids Worldwide to provide $20,000 worth of safety equipment to local Safe Kids coalitions in Texas communities receiving and transporting displaced families. Our longtime partners at General Motors and Chevrolet came through on short notice with the necessary funds, and GM also donated 25 vehicles with unlimited OnStar service to be used in relief operations. Naturally, word travels fast, and specific requests are often duplicated and reach our office several times from several different concerned agencies. Safe Kids Worldwide provides resources to the 316 state and local Safe Kids coalitions, not directly to the public. We rely on the local coalitions to identify and meet local needs. We are doing all we can to make sure the coalitions in the affected areas are equipped to meet the needs of their own communities - including displaced families moving in temporarily. If you know of a shelter or relief agency that needs car seats, please ask them to contact the local Safe Kids coordinator (from our home page, click on "Find Coalitions and Events Near You"). Finally, please remember: even in a state of chaos and despair, buckle up. Enough lives have been lost already, and hospitals and rescue squads are overwhelmed. It's more important than ever to make sure your kids are as safe as they can be.
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Many local Safe Kids coalitions and other agencies in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina have reported an urgent need for car seats for displaced families. In particular, the military family support center in San Antonio asked for car seats for families evacuated from Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi. These families have lost all of their belongings. 
