new orleans relief circus/entertainment/labor group - enlist

Mission Statement

The Second Line is a long-standing, long-dancing New Orleans tradition; best known as the band that follows funerals, somber on the way to the grave, joyous and celebratory on the way back.

Inspired by this fine tradition, Third Line is a rapidly expanding hurricane relief organization, with a core comprised of New Orleans residents and entertainers, and a vast network of friends who also want to help. Primarily we are a circus, which will provide entertainment relief (in the form of circus acts, a mobile film theater, puppet shows, and music) and children’s day care (with an educational focus on creating their own children’s circus), although we seek to fulfill other needs as we see fit (e.g. housing, clothing, etc.).

As our network has grown we have also begun to realize a new, much more serious set of issues the general news media is failing to report what is basically criminal negligence. And so our mission has expanded to include the following two goals 1. the dissemination of alternative and repressed news reports (including reports that government officials have been denying New Orleans residents the access to evacuate as well as confiscating food and water supplies), and 2. the aiding of citizens still inside New Orleans by any and all means necessary.

Our membership, which has been constantly growing in number, currently includes individuals proficient in a vast number of areas including emergency medical care, day care, information and media technology, and more, not to mention arts, music, and entertainment. With the cooperation of The Burning Man organization and Red Cross we helped to raise over $30,000, about $4500 of which has been put towards our endeavors, the rest of which may also go to us, Red Cross, or other relief groups. Whether or not we are allowed further funding will likely depend on us showing results.

In any event, we are actively seeking support in the form of participants who whould like to join us in Houston, either as entertainers or laborers, as well as donations of materials and/or funds to aid our mission. Please contact us if you’re interested in participating in any way.

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So anyway, we’re now in Austin, Texas, networking with refugees and some folks who want to volunteer, doing some circus performance, and developing more ideas. Lots of people seem interested in helping out, and everything is running smoothly. We’ll be heading down to Houston on Sunday or Monday, where we will create our semi-permanent base, and from which certain members of our group will be going into New Orleans to help with clean-up/rebuilding/medication/evacuation/etc.

If anybody would like to help out, either from home or in Houston, please contact me (e-mail contact@thirdlinecircus.com; phone 808 344 0719). We now have a network of people and organizations varied enough to find a place for virtually any sort of volunteer, from entertainers to laborers.

Here’s our web site http//thirdlinecircus.com (which is still very much ‘under construction’ at this point). Soon it should have alternative news reports, links to help or get help, footage of our efforts, updates on our progress and upcoming events, etc.

Besides volunteering you can also help the relief effort by donating, either to us or other worthy organizations. To donate to Third Line just go to PayPal.com and make your donation to donate@thirdlinecircus.com. Maybe folks can reply to this post with links to other good organizations…