Marty Stuart, Steve Earle, Lee Roy Parnell, Bonny Bramlett (Delanie
and Bonny), Tony Joe White, Delbert McClinton, Jon Justice, Steve
Azar, and more contribute to the limited-edition album, Forgotten
but Not Gone (www.forgotten-but-not-gone.org).
The new album was created to help restore the homes, communities and
dignity of tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents still displaced
by Hurricane Katrina.
The all-volunteer album draws attention to the plight of those still
living in temporary housing four years after the most destructive
natural disaster in our nation's history devastated New Orleans and
much of coastal Mississippi. But, characteristic of the region's spirit,
the album also celebrates the colorful history and defiant determination
of those who call the Gulf Coast home.
The project is the brainchild of three friends active
in the Nashville music industry: singer/songwriter Ric Kipp, producer/multi-instrumentalist
Phillip Wolfe, and executive producer Rebecca Wolfe. The three were
moved to action by the personal experiences of Kipp, a New Orleans
native who saw the landscape of his childhood swept away by Katrina.
"At first I felt paralyzed by all the destruction,"
he said. "But then, when time passed and the outside volunteers
went home and there were still so many people with only primitive,
temporary shelter, I started asking myself what I could do to change
things."
The
answer, developed and brought to life with the Wolfes, was the formation
of a nonprofit organization - Gulf Coast Relief, Inc. - for the
creation of Forgotten but Not Gone. Those two groups are the New
Orleans Office of Disaster Response (ODR), an arm of Episcopal Community
Services (ECS) of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana (www.ecs.edola.org),
and Camp Coast Care (www.campcoastcare.com),
a project of Lutheran-Episcopal Services of Mississippi. Both are
volunteer organizations that, while faith-based, serve their communities
without regard to religious affiliation.
Active in rebuilding hurricane-damaged homes with
the combined help of volunteers and professional contractors, ODR/ECS
has rebuilt 55 houses in New Orleans since 2006 and gutted an additional
900, at a value of $12.6 million. The organization also provides
case management services to 2,500 households, focusing on those
most in need of assistance - the elderly, the disabled, and households
with young children.
Forgotten
But Not Gone can be purchased as a 19-track, limited-edition hardcopy
CD through the album's Web site (www.forgotten-but-not-gone.org)
or from CD Baby (www.cdbaby.com/cd/various394)
for $14.99 plus shipping, handling, and applicable sales taxes.
CD Baby also offers options for digitally downloading the album
and individual tracks. The album may also be obtained by sending
a check or money order for $18 per CD to Gulf Coast Relief, Inc.,
P.O. Box 597, Hermitage, TN 37076. All proceeds will be equally
divided between Episcopal Community Services of New Orleans and
Camp Coast Care in Mississippi.
For
more information about any aspect of the Forgotten but Not Gone project,
contact Rebecca Wolfe email rebeccawolfe@earthlink.net,
or visit www.forgotten-but-not-gone.org
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