Richmond Roundup

Local groups work to help Katrina victims
Two local organizations recently contributed to improve the lives of those living in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Soaringwords, a non-profit organization whose mission is to help ill children and their families heal, recently shared a Soaringwords community service project to help hospitalized children and families displaced by Hurricane Katrina with children at the Excelsior Boys and Girls Club and employees of the U.S. Trust and Charles Schwab. Members of the organizations came together to decorate hundreds of quilts and pillows, which were donated to hospitalized children at the UCSF Children's Hospital.

Congregation Emanu-El also helped by hosting a benefit concert that raised about $18,000 for the victims of Katrina. The event, which drew more than 800 guests, was opened by San Francisco Symphony Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, who performed solo on the piano. Cantor Roslyn Barak emceed the evening, and was joined by additional guest artists, including musical group "Davka," cabaret artists, members of the SF Symphony and the Adler Fellows of the San Francisco Opera Center, among others. Donations were sent to the American Red Cross, AmericaÕs Second Harvest and the Union for Reform Judaism Hurricane Relief Fund.

New SF history book released
Arcadia Publishing has released a vintage history book with pictures of early San Francisco. The book features postcards and photographs from the middle of the 19th century to the early part of the 20th century. The book is only available at Borders and can be purchased for $19.99. For more information, contact Arcadia Publishing at (888) 313-2665 or visit its Web site at www.arcadiapublishing.com.

Students give disaster info.
Students from George Washington High School's JROTC program, working with the SF Fire Department, visited Richmond District residents to inform them about emergency programs and training Dec. 3. The students gave residents information about the Disaster Registry Program and Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) training.

The registry program is a list of seniors, disabled people and others living in the District who would need to be checked up on if a major disaster occurred.

The NERT program trains local citizens how to care for themselves and others in an emergency.

New film helps identify depression in Asian women
In response to studies showing that elderly Asian women have the highest suicide rate among all ethnic groups in the U.S. due to the perils of depression, the Asian Pacific Fund, in collaboration with Stanford Geriatric Education Center and AARP, researched and produced a health education film that is now available to health professionals, caregivers, community organizations and members of the public.

"Healing the Spirit: Treatment of Depression Among the Asian Elderly" features special interviews with geriatric-care professionals, senior service organization advisors, and author Amy Tan, whose family has struggled with depression, among others. The video emphasizes depression management, discusses access to treatment and describes the universal and culturally-relevant aspects of the disease through Chinese-, Filipino- and Japanese-American cases.

For more information about the film, offered in DVD and VHS formats in a variety of languages, visit the Web site at www.asianpacificfund.org.

City hires global warming expert
In an effort to address global warming concerns, the SF Department of the Environment has hired its first climate action coordinator, Melissa Capria. Most scientists agree that global warming is real, and the effects in the Bay Area could be ruinous. A three-foot rise in sea levels, which some studies anticipate, would destroy coastal wetlands and inundate infrastructure in low-lying areas, including sewage treatment plants.