The very kind and gracious Vonda McIntyre emailed me shortly after the hurricane asking if there was anything she or others could do to directly help deputies in need and their families down here. As over 30 of our deputies lost everything and I am not one to turn away someone willing to help, I suggested that donations of gift cards would not go unappreciated. She took the time to work up a webpage with links to local stores with ways to make online purchases of gift cards, which I have now put up on my own site(after trying to slog through the Powers That Be here and then being told to take care of it myself. Sheesh.)

At any rate, if anyone still cares to make a donation that I can guarantee will go directly to a person in actual Need, please consider purchasing a gift card and sending it on to me here at the Crime Lab. I swear to you that every card I receive will go to a deputy who received significant damage to his or her residence, and I will obtain signed receipts from said deputy if anyone desires it. I know that there are plenty of skeezy websites out there scamming donations, but hopefully anyone who comes to this site knows me well enough to know that the money or cards WILL go to people who need and deserve it.

Address to send donations or gift cards:
Diana Rowland
Crime Lab
St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office
1180 Champagne St.
Covington, LA 70433

It has also been suggested to me that I put a PayPal button on this site, but I haven't the faintest idea how to go about doing that.

Blanket permission given to link to this page and the donations page. In fact, please, link away.