Iowa delegates today visited the Minneapolis Convention Center for a service project making comfort kits for those affected by Gulf Coast hurricanes. The Republican National Convention partnered with Target, FedEx and the American Red Cross to assemble and send 80,000 comfort packages.

At one end of the cavernous convention hall, volunteers worked to open and unpack boxes filled with toiletries and snack foods. In the middle of the hall, volunteers were lined up at dozens of long tables to organize and pack the boxes.

Earlier in the day Cedar Rapids area resident Kathryn Farrand played a DVD of photos of flood damage in Cedar Rapids and encouraged delegates to work on the service project.

"We of all people should have a heart for this," she said.

She also said help was still needed in Cedar Rapids, saying that many homeowners were unsure of the aid they might get because Congress is on recess and the state Legislature hasn't held a special session.

"We're a mess. We're an absolute mess," she said of her city.

"We as a delegation maybe have an opportunity to light a fire" to get more help for the flood-stricken parts of Iowa, she said.

-- By Mike Schramm

Labels: RNC2008