The Seattle Times: Local News: Hope fades on the Gulf Coast

All is ot bright however and there is much work to be done! Why not go back and volunteer again. They definitely still need the help!

The Seattle Times: Local News: Hope fades on the Gulf Coast:

"The first anniversary a few weeks later brought a surge of interest. But now?

'I'm here choking back the tears,' Wright said.

There is plenty to cry about.

Tens of millions of dollars in Katrina disaster aid was squandered, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported Thursday. And the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has recouped less than 1 percent of the $1 billion lost to fraud.

Meanwhile, the victims we met last summer still struggle.

I called Ernest Ratliff at his service station in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward. He said so little I thought the phone had gone dead.

But no. Just his hope."

and later:

"Last year, the area was "inundated" with toys. This year, when Ringdahl called Toys for Tots, looking for something for 150 kids the camp serves, the news was hard: There was only one toy.

"We have a long road ahead of us," Ringdahl said."