A newly formed New River Valley group is proposing to take up to 300 families from parts of the country ravaged by Hurricane Katrina - if they end up coming to Southwest Virginia.

Volunteers are scrambling to line up food, clothing and housing for the potential newcomers, who organizers said could be staying in Virginia for a year.

"This is a long-term commitment," said Terri Fitzwater-Palmore, a Habitat for Humanity official who is helping to coordinate the New River Valley effort.

Pulaski Mayor Charles Wade, one of the many local officials involved, sounded a note of caution about offering to help so many at once.

"This is what we'd like to shoot for," he said. "You have to have someone to receive 300 and some families. And that hasn't happened yet."

And it may not happen. Gov. Mark Warner announced this week plans to accept about 3,000 refugees at Fort Pickett, a Virginia National Guard facility in Blackstone, and the nearby Virginia United Methodist Assembly Center, and to 4-H centers, including one at Smith Mountain Lake. Fort Pickett itself could handle 1,000 people and the Methodist center 400 more. They would act as hubs, and hurricane victims should be out of Fort Pickett within 60 days, Warner spokesman Kevin Hall said.

Preparations at Fort Pickett follow a late Tuesday announcement of plans to stop transferring Katrina victims from Texas, where many remain stranded. Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency said many evacuees prefer to remain in the region as they deal with questions of property, employment and the safety of loved ones. Transfers from New Orleans will continue.

A news release sent from Gov. Mark Warner's office late Wednesday said housing offers around the state may take days or weeks to be used, if they are needed at all.

Still, the New River Valley group is proceeding as if people could begin arriving within a week.

Localities are supposed to let the state know how many people they can take from Fort Pickett, and Fitzwater-Palmore is proposing the New River Valley try to accommodate 300 families. Representatives of local governments including Montgomery, Giles, Pulaski, Floyd and Wythe counties and Radford met Tuesday with people from churches and other agencies that might be involved.

A second meeting is planned for 4 p.m. on Sept. 15 at Pulaski Elementary School.

Wade said he has talked to area pastors who think that taking 300 families might be too ambitious. There are also questions about whether background or health checks would be required for the newcomers, he said.

So far, the New River Valley effort to house people displaced by Katrina has been pretty informal. Fitzwater-Palmore became the effort's spokeswoman since Habitat's major push is to provide housing. A yard sale planned for this weekend has become the initial fundraiser for the project.

Deborah Gessner of Pulaski County, part of the organizing group, said a sale will start at her house at 8 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Gessner's home can be reached from Interstate 81 by taking the Claytor Lake exit (101) and driving toward the lake, then turning off at Ebb Hall Road. Gessner said she would have signs to help point the way.

Other fundraisers are being planned.

Lots of other groups and individuals in the region have their own efforts to raise money or solicit donations of aid items. But the arrival of a large group of displaced people would necessitate a more unified effort, Fitzwater-Palmore argued, not just to find places for people to live but to provide services and help with employment.

"This is a long-term project," Fitzwater-Palmore said. "We're acting on faith."

The Associated Press

contributed to this report.

As of Wednesday evening, Red Cross officials report helping 1,369 Katrina evacuees at 18 Virginia chapters so far. It's unclear how much the state's effort to help those displaced by Katrina at Fort Pickett and elsewhere will cost, though Hall expected at least some federal reimbursement. Virginia was not among those listed to received federal disaster aid on FEMA's Web site Wednesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Info Box

How to volunteer to host a family, possibly for a year, or become involved in other ways:

Call New River Community Action at (540) 980-5525 or Habitat for Humanity at (540) 731-8660.