By Adam Belz
The Gazette

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Traffic has been increasing at walk-in centers where volunteers are building a database of needy Linn County flood victims, but organizers still want more people to show up.

The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee is trying to build a database to list the specific needs of flood victims and connect them with people who can help.

Volunteers are in the second week of interviewing flood victims. Friday will be the last day.

"The further we go into our two-week cycle, the better it is getting," Larry Groothuis, who is heading up the project, said Tuesday. "Last Friday and Saturday were excellent, yesterday was very good, and today is even better." More than 500 people have been interviewed, he said.

By far the busiest walk-in centers are the ones at Westdale Mall and the Salvation Army, 1000 C Ave. NW.

Volunteers are going into the affected areas and imploring people to go to the walkin centers. That's working, Groothuis said.

After interviews end Friday, volunteers in the centers will finish entering the reports into the database. By Friday night, Groothuis hopes to present a report to the Linn Area Long Term Recovery Coalition.

The report will be a valuable link between needy flood victims and the organizations -- local and from far away -- willing to help them. The biggest need, Groothuis said, is for money.

For many people, Federal Emergency Management Agency grants and Red Cross assistance will not be enough.

The database will list people's specific needs. For instance, Groothuis said it will be able to show how many people need refrigerators or how many need air conditioners.

"These are not estimates, it's actual hard data," he said.

The reports also will show demographic details about flood victims, such as family situations.

After Groothuis and the others from the Christian Reformed Church leave town, local organizations will have to take over the database. People will be needed to review the information and follow up.

"If they don't hire anybody, it's just going to sit in a cardboard box gathering dust," he said.

That's in the works. Leslie Wright of the Recovery Coalition said the coalition is working with Lutheran Services of Iowa to begin recruiting "case advocates" locally.

Copyright 2008 The Gazette