Atherton couple aids hurricane victims Atherton couple aids hurricane victims (September 21, 2005)

Julia Schwartzman and David Popowitz are getting married in five weeks. But instead of obsessing over the bridal bouquet or decorations for the wedding cake, the couple is busy filling the garage of their Lindenwood home with supplies for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Wanting to do more than send a check, Ms. Schwartzman went on the Internet to Craig's List for relief organizations. She liked the sound of Operation Ryan's Hope, a local relief drive, inspired by Ryan Richardson, a second-grader at St. Matthew Catholic School in San Mateo.

According to an article in the September 9 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle, Ryan told his mother, Mari Richardson, "God is always looking out for me, and now I want to help God take care of others." Ryan's Hope has a warehouse in Newark as its central area for donations. The organization sends trucks filled with supplies to a Marksville, Louisiana shelter.

Ms. Schwartzman, who is an attorney, started sending e-mail requests for supplies to all her friends and walked door-to-door with fliers in her Atherton neighborhood. "We haven't lived here long and another good thing is I've met many of our neighbors," she says.

The fliers requested clothing, toiletries, blankets, and non-perishable food. Operation Ryan's Hope's Web site also lists baby clothing, diapers, formula, bottles and blankets, and board games, coloring books, and small stuffed animals for children.

Ms. Schwartzman says the response has been amazing. "People even went out and bought new clothing and blankets. Everything we received was of good quality," she says.

The couple hired a pick-up truck, which has made nine trips to deliver approximately 270 boxes of supplies to Newark. Another 50 or 60 boxes were expected by the time their relief drive ended on September 18.

Mr. Popowitz's firm, Credit Suisse First Boston, has donated funds for a truck to deliver supplies from Newark to Louisiana.

To find out more about Operation Ryan's Hope, go to operationryanshope.com.

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