Trying to set up blade donations for LA Flood victims.....who should I contact?

[Jestersinthemoon]

Good afternoon gents ( and ladies ),

I'm writing because I am trying to set up a program to accept and distribute donated knives, machetes, hatchets, tomahawks, and pretty much any other bladed implement or pry tool for the victims of the flooding down here in Louisiana.

I’m a Baton Rouge, Louisiana resident, former military guy, knife and blade collector, and outdoor enthusiast. I just happened to come up with a small idea that I’m trying to turn into a bigger project that will hopefully help some people and put a smile on their faces……something that’s not seen much of around here lately.

My wife and I manage several hotels, and we are currently witnessing thousands of families each day who have lost all of their possessions, their homes, their vehicles, and many of their memories. My wife and I, and 22 of our employees and their families, along with 200+ other displaced families are living at our hotels at the moment. Many parts of the country are completely unaware of how rampant the devastation was. Having lived through Hurricane Katrina and a number of other major storms, I can unequivocally state that this is worse than pretty much any storm that I’ve been through.

There are not many ways that I can help a large number of families as I don't have tons of money to donate and my house flooded, so I lost many possessions as well, but I wanted to try to do something for the many other families who lost everything in the storms, the flooding, and the large scale theft and robbery that took place after the rain had stopped, but the police were not allowing people back to homes.

Since I am a knife and blade collector, I've decided that I am going to try to help that way.A friend of mine who makes knives happened to mention that he was going to donate several of his unsold blades to local families and asked for my help finding people to give them to. That sparked the idea, so I am now trying to reach out to any knifemakers that I know of to see if they would be willing to donate knives, hatchets, machetes……..essentially any type of bladed implement, chopping tool, etc to serve two purposes. First, there any tons of people who cannot afford to hire cleanup crews and repairmen, so they could desperately use these tools for the many jobs that they are being forced to perform in and around their flooded homes. These knives aren't going to be used for pretty jobs, but they'll find uses for months to come. Being in the hotel industry, I have access to thousands upon thousands of families who were flooded out of their homes and hundreds of workers and volunteers who are valiantly offering their time and hard work to help these people get their homes back into safe condition. I already have dozens upon dozens of families who would be tremendously grateful for even the smallest token to help them in the enormous jobs ahead of them. The second reason I want to do this is that I have no doubt that there are plenty of knife collectors and aficionados out there like myself that lost a large portion of their collection. I intend to do some research on the knife forums and around the area to see if I can't help out some guys who lost knife collections to the flooding and rampant burglary that took place afterwards.

If I can get enough companies to participate, I would love to even create a website or Facebook page with a list of contributors and names and pictures of the recipients holding their blades.

Can anyone give me recommendations for companies or knifemakers that I should contact? I contacted Miller Brothers Blades a few moments ago. I'll send emails out to Zombie Tools, Busse/ScrapYard/SwampRat, Bark River, Winkler Knives, Rick Hinderer, Strider Knives, Chris Reeve, Dark Timber, Southern Grind, Medford Knife and Tool, and any others that I can think of. I'm trying to think of makers and companies that make hard use stuff, but we'd love to get donations from smaller/new bladesmiths that are just starting out ( as long as their blades are safe to use, I don't want to give anyone something that is not heat treated or tempered properly ).

Also, are there any larger companies that people think would participate? Anyone else I should contact?

Thank you for your time. If anyone knows of any other knifemakers or bladesmiths who would be interested in participating, please include them in a post below, have them message me, or send them my email address and have them contact me.

Thank so much for any help that you can offer. I'm really hopeful that this will benefit a number of people.

Thank you, and have a great day!

My email is:

w___s.holmes@___hotels.com

put " i-l-k" in the first space and " s-m-c " in the second

 

[needler420]

I think donating to red cross would aid the people of Louisiana more then a knife donation. That's like saying here I helped now go hunt your food lol. Probably better giving them donated fishing poles.

 

[Final Option]

I appreciate where your heart is OP, however I was a Red Cross volunteer during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and did assessments from the Fla panhandle to Gulfport, Biloxi etc. and giving someone a knife or machete is probably the furthest thing needed now. Food, shelter, clean water and help restoring their houses and lives would be more appropriate. Donate money to the Red Cross or charitable institution of your choosing. I never came across someone in the many areas I traveled during Hurricane Kartrina that asked for a knife, maybe chainsaws, generators, water pumps, clean clothing and help removing the muddy debris from what is left of their homes.
Again thanks OP for your sincere concern and help !

 

[Jestersinthemoon]

I think you guys are absolutely right, but also somewhat missing the point. I'm really just trying to do something nice for some folks who deserve it. Keep in mind, I don;'t have the time, nor do I think it is very likely that I'll be receiving 5000 knives and distributing them to every person that I see.

I'm dealing with the same situation as the 40.00-60,000 others down here. My house was flooded, as was my mother-in-law's and my grandmother-in-laws. I've got thousands of dollars worth of damage and have lost more stuff than I ever realized was possible to lose from a flood. I didn't have flood insurance, just like 85% of the other people who live in areas where is hasn't flooded in over 140 years. We have all taken major losses, but I've already given a monetary donation and donated clothes and bedding. I got my work to donate over $20,000 worth of mattresses, sheets, towels, pillows, and more. I'm also working 16-20 hour days helping people find temporary shelter at our hotel, and other hotels, and I'm seeing daily how much folks have lost. I'm not trying to put a knife in the hands of every displaced family that I see. I was simply thinking about how I felt. By the time I was able to get back in to my house, some of my carbon steel blades were unsalvageable, or close to it. Other knives are either gone or have been stolen. So, assuming that there are many other people out there who were in the same position as me, my friend's assertion that he was donating some of the knives he had made to people made me think that maybe I could create something similar on a slightly larger scale.

As far as using knives for the tremendous demo jobs that people have before them.......Sure, you are correct in that there aren't a lot of people looking for 3" folders. However, I've already given away over a half dozen machetes, axes and tomahawks to people who needed them and I've loaned out my Busse Battle Mistresses, Buck Hoodlum and several other large chopping knives to those who needed them.

I'm not telling people or asking knifemakers to forego donating clothes, money, or anything else that might help those in need. All I'm saying is that I happen to be a knife collector, so this is an area where I might be able to reach out to some folks for something that people do, and will, need. They may not need it to tear down the majority of their ruined house, but even when I wasn't a knife "collector", if I had lost all of my knives and other bladed implements, I would have been quite upset. If every knifemaker that I contact sent two or three knives or machetes, even stuff that isn't "finished" or even maker-marked, there are plenty of people out there that would love to have them.

We just found out today that FEMA is only going to pay $60 for hotel rooms and is capping home damages to $30,000, so all of these displaced people will not only be unable to stay at hotels for very long, but they will also run out of money long before all of their belongings are replaced. A knife may not be the first thing that people think of when they have lost everything, or close to it, but there are people for whom receiving a nice knife would bring a smile to their face, and that's all I'm trying to do.

If I can do something to help a guy or gal out there replace a knife that they lost, then hey, it was worth the time I spent doing this. Thats all that its really about.

Thanks for the replies, guys. Even if it brings more awareness to the situation, it is tremendously helpful.

Have a great day!

Wilks

 

[Don Joe]

very nice thing youre doing! you can find the white house number online, if you call one of the representatives could probably point you in the right direction. either that or call your local hospital and see what they tell you. good luck. let us know how it goes. :thumbup: