From the Blake community to the southern tip of California, people across the nation have united in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in an effort to relieve the storm’s disastrous impact.

Approximately 1800 people filled the Blake track field September 11 for the Sunset Jazz Benefit Concert to raise money for hurricane victims. “[We wanted] to do something for those who were devastated by Hurricane Katrina,” says band director Brian Damron. “New Orleans opened its heart to the band when we went down there; it was our turn to return the favor.”

The Eubie Blake Jazz Ensemble, the Blake Dixieland Band and the M Street Brass Quintet, with orchestra teacher Jon Eising, provided two hours of musical entertainment for all who came out to support the cause.

Senior Jazz Band saxophonist Melinda Park says, “[The devastation] is really sad because we were just there…I’m just glad we could do something to help.” Guests made donations at tables located around the track, receiving treats ranging from water to cds for their trouble.

With a goal of raising $10,000, everyone involved was pleasantly surprised with the success of the concert. Twenty thousand people came out September 3 to the Downtown Silver Spring Jazz Festival, where $21,000 was raised to support the hurricane victims; the Blake Sunset Jazz concert, on the other hand, brought out less than one twelfth that number of people and raised $23,884 for the Red Cross Katrina relief effort.

A proud Mr. Damron says, “[This just shows that] the Blake community has big hearts.” The Board of Education gave an announcement to Blake High School in recognition of its noble cause.

“It’s depressing that a place that gave us so many fun and exciting things has to suffer so much,” says senior color guard captain Caitlin Gale. Last New Years, the Blake Marching Band and Color Guard traveled to New Orleans, where they stayed for five days soaking up the culture and wonder that was the city of New Orleans. “So many good things happened for me, both in the city, and in the hotel; the thought that they are no longer there is rather sobering,” she adds.

Senior Jade Liebes had relatives in harm’s way. Her aunt and uncle, stationed with the navy in Biloxi, Mississippi, stayed through the storm. “They said that Biloxi was one of the places that was going to be hit,” says Liebes, “so we were all kind of panicking about it.” They were unharmed, but “their house was destroyed completely…They were stuck living in a shelter for a while.”

Freshman Brendan Lipton was the driving force behind the consortium-wide car wash that raised $3000 for the Red Cross’s hurricane relief effort September 10. “We had done a car wash to raise money for the victims of 9/11, and that one was really successful,” Lipton says. “I thought it would probably be a good idea to do another one.”

Lipton arranged the event with the support of the Hillandale Fire Department, sending letters to each of the consortium principals, posting and handing out flyers and even getting a local Pizza Hut to send out flyers with their deliveries. “We had lines going all day,” adds Lipton. “It was just a great turnout all around.”

Volunteers from elementary, middle, and high schools all over the Northeast Consortium showed up to run the car wash and support its cause. “So many people stayed all day to help,” Lipton says.

Schools across the country have warmly welcomed young victims of Hurricane Katrina. Roughly 74 transfer students found their way to Montgomery County, five of them coming to Blake. Sophomore Clarence Andrews attended Blake for four days while he and his parents stayed with his aunt, before permanently moving to Houston.

“It’s been really hard,” says an emotional Andrews. “This [was] our fifth evacuation. Usually it would be like a mini vacation—we’d go out and we’d be back in a day or two.” Leaving the day before the storm, his family stopped in Mississippi and Tennessee before arriving in Maryland. “We really didn’t expect to come all the way out here,” he adds.

Freshman Darrielle Gray and her family arrived from New Orleans about three weeks ago, and are staying with a cousin. They left the day before the hurricane, and drove up to Alexandria, Louisiana. They returned briefly home before continuing north.

The damage inflicted by the hurricane was immense. Says senior Shanel Armant, who also transferred from New Orleans, “All my stuff is gone…My notebook’s gone, my guitar, my cds…my grandmother’s house.” Armant, like many others displaced by the storm, plans to finish out the school year here.

“A couple of my friends went to Baton Rouge in Louisiana, and they’ll e-mail me from school to school,” says Gray. For many of them, “most of their family is gone, out there…their homes were destroyed.”

Both the LEO and French Clubs have given money to Blake’s Katrina Relief Fund. The French Club has donated $225, all the profits from the first two of their annual fall bake sales. Barbara Mangraviti, French teacher and French Club sponsor, says, “We were already set up for fundraising, and the need was great.”

“Many of the French Club’s members had gone [to the Sugar Bowl] with Mr. Damron’s band,” says Mrs. Mangraviti. “They had appreciated so much the experience of New Orleans that they really felt they wanted to be a part of the rebuilding, of helping the victims.”

John Jacobs, father of seniors Corrina and Kameko, recently went down to New Orleans to help recover threatened art and historical artifacts. His company, Artex, specializes in shipping and storing fine art. “We were contacted by a number of museums in New Orleans about coming…and getting things out of the city before the mold destroyed them,” says Mr. Jacobs.

“The biggest impression for me was that the area that was damaged was much larger than you realize when you’re watching television,” says Mr. Jacobs. “The most startling thing was to be in a city the size of New Orleans with no people. The only people who were there were military and police or firefighters.”

Declared the most disastrous storm this country has ever seen, Hurricane Katrina surpasses even the infamously destructive Galveston Hurricane of 1900. Rebuilding will be long and costly. “There’ll be lots of opportunities to help, even if they go off the front pages,” says Mr. Jacobs. “We should remember that there’s a lot of suffering going on there, and a lot to do about it.” They were unharmed, but their house was destroyed completely, and they were stuck living in a shelter for a while.

Freshman Brendan Lipton was the driving force behind the consortium-wide car wash that raised $3000 for the Red Cross’ relief effort September 10. In 2004, they organized a car wash to raise money for victims of 9/11. Lipton says. “I thought it would ...be a good idea to do another.”

Lipton arranged the event with the support of the Hillandale Fire Department, sending letters to each of the consortium principals, posting and handing out flyers and even getting a local Pizza Hut to send out flyers with their deliveries. “We had lines going all day,” adds Lipton. “It was just a great turnout all around.”

Volunteers from elementary, middle and high schools all over the area came to run the car wash and support its cause. “So many people stayed all day to help,” Lipton says.

Roughly 74 of New Orleans’ students found their way to Montgomery County, five of them to Blake. Sophomore Clarence Andrews attended Blake for four days while his family stayed with his aunt.

“It’s been really hard,” says an emotional Andrews. “This [was] our fifth evacuation. Usually it would be like a mini vacation—we’d go out and we’d be back in a day or two.” His family stopped in Mississippi and Tennessee before Maryland. “We really didn’t expect to come all the way out here,” he adds.

Freshman Darrielle Gray and her family arrived from New Orleans about three weeks ago. They left the day before the hurricane, and drove up to Alexandria, Louisiana. They returned briefly home before continuing north.

Says senior Shanel Armant, also from New Orleans, “All my stuff is gone…My notebook’s gone, my guitar, my cds…my grandmother’s house.”

“A couple of my friends went to Baton Rouge in Louisiana, and they’ll e-mail me from school to school,” says Gray. For many of them, “most of their family is gone, out there…their homes were destroyed.”

Both the LEO and French Clubs have given to Blake’s Katrina Relief Fund. The French Club donated $225, the profits from two of their fall bake sales. Barbara Mangraviti, French teacher and French Club sponsor, says, “We were already set up for fundraising, and the need was great.”

Many of the French Club’s members had gone to the Sugar Bowl with Mr. Damron’s band. “They had appreciated so much the experience of New Orleans that they really felt they wanted to be a part of the rebuilding, of helping the victims,” says Mrs. Mangraviti.

John Jacobs, father of seniors Corrina and Kameko, recently went down to New Orleans to help recover threatened art and historical artifacts. His company, Artex, specializes in shipping and storing fine art. He was contacted by a number of museums in New Orleans about going to New Orleans to get artifacts out of the city.

“The biggest impression for me was that the area that was damaged was much larger than you realize,” Mr. Jacobs says. “The most startling thing was to be in a city the size of New Orleans with no people. The only people who were there were military and police or firefighters.”

Rebuilding will be long and costly. “There’ll be lots of opportunities to help, even if they go off the front pages,” says Mr. Jacobs. “We should remember that there’s a lot of suffering going on there, and a lot to do.”