SOUTHLANDERS JOINING RELIEF EFFORT; ORGANIZATIONS, INDIVIDUALS ANSWERING DESPERATE PLEAS FOR AID.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer

As NATO troops pressed air attacks against Serbian forces Tuesday, West Hills resident Edward Artis readied his own mission, to transport medicine to the refugees.

And along with $300,000 in medicine he and a partner plan to carry to the Albania-Yugoslavia border Saturday, he said he also will pack his bulletproof vest and parachute - just in case.

``I'm a warrior. I'm waging peace,'' the 53-year-old Artis explained, amid stacked boxes of antibiotics in the living room of his West Hills home.

While not many people will travel a continent away to help the refugees, Artis' charity is part of the outpouring from across the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles and the nation.

From $5,000 collected by Burbank-based Islamic Relief, to $1.5 million raised by the American Red Cross nationwide, groups are making efforts to get relief to the Kosovo refugees.

``The American Red Cross is saying they're going to need $1 million per week to get the necessary medical help, basic food, blankets and basic emergency needs,'' said Barbara Wilks, an American Red Cross spokeswoman based in Los Angeles.

Other groups raising money are:

World Visions, a relief organization based in Federal Way, Wash., has raised $200,000, including $53,000 through the group's Web site.

Direct Relief, a Santa Barbara-based organization that specializes in shipping donated medical and pharmaceutical supplies to places in need, said the group has raised $22,000 since March 31 in cash to cover costs of shipments to Kosovo. The group's goal is to raise $100,000.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles is making a $10,000 donation to the Kosovo Refugee Relief Fund of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Nationwide, the Jewish Federation has raised more than $78,000.

``I think the tragedy has affected all communities,'' said Mudasar Altawash, office manager of Islamic Relief.

But few Americans are going so far as to put themselves in harm's way. Artis will lead the mission as part of the relief organization Knightsbridge International together with his partner Dr. James Laws, a cardiologist from Dayton, Ohio.

They will travel with TV producer Dick Arlett and Stephen Huang, president of the Buddhist Compassion and Relief Tzuchi Foundation of Taiwan.

Arlett, of Marina del Rey, hopes to put together a benefit upon his return. Huang, a Alhambra resident, will evaluate how many tents are needed for the refugees.The men also plan to file daily reports and digitized photos from laptops to a Web site at http://www.kbi.org/

Delivering the medicine to people won't be easy, Artis said.

``They're killing women and children,'' he said. ``We go deliver this stuff in combat zones where people need it. It's going to be tense. They'll be shooting. We'll be right up on the line . . . Otherwise, it gets stolen. It has a tendency to get legs on it.''

Artis, a Vietnam War combat medic who for 27 years has provided medical supplies and equipment to some of the most distressed areas in the world - including Rwanda, Nicaragua and Afghanistan - said he's not trying to be a hero.

``We are very, very good at this,'' he said. ``We can move quickly . . . We'd like to be like In-N-Out Burger - before we become a threat to the Serbs.''

Recent counts put the number of ethnic Albanian refugees at more than 250,000, a number that is only expected to rise.

Petrit Bushati, the ambassador of Albania to the United States, said by telephone in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday that he will provide contact points for Artis to meet the right people and help assure that the aid goes to people in need.

``We've never seen such a massive deportation and I count very much on the assistance of the American people,'' said Bushati.

Artis expects that his arsenal of antibiotics donated by various nongovernment organizations in the United States and Canada will cure 25,000 refugees, who are suffering from cases of cholera or respiratory problems.

The four men will land with the medicines in Rome and take a truck to Bari on the Adriatic coast. They will then take a 10-hour ferry to Durrazo, Albania, where government officials will meet them by Monday, Artis said.

They will give half the medications to refugees in Macedonia and partner up with doctors and clinics in Albania to disperse the other half, Artis said.

``We'll distribute it ourselves to doctors and clinics,'' Artis said, adding that from their four-person tent, Laws likely will administer some of the medications while he identifies the refugees.

``We'll be refugees too. We'll sleep on the ground if we have to. We'll do what we have to,'' Artis said.

HOW TO HELP

The Agency for International Development has established a toll-free telephone number and Internet site to encourage charitable donations to private groups helping to feed and shelter the hundreds of thousands of refugees who have streamed out of Kosovo.

Callers to the telephone number (800-USAID-RELIEF, or 800-872-4373) and visitors to the site (www.info.usaid.gov) are provided with a list of charitable organizations working along Kosovo's borders.

The agency, the lead government organization in the humanitarian aid effort for the refugees, is encouraging donors to offer money to the groups, rather than collecting clothing or food.

Knightsbridge International Humanitarian Relief and Human Improvement Programs, Inc. (Albania-Kosovo)

PO Box 4394

West Hills, CA 91308-4394

[phone] or [phone]

http://www.kbi.org/

World Vision

PO Box 70260

Tacoma, WA 98481-0260

[phone]

Direct Relief (Monetary and medical donations only)

27 South La Patera Lane

Santa Barbara, CA 93117

[phone]

American Red Cross - International Response Fund

(Designate check for Kosovo)

2700 Wilshire Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90057

(Can also send to any local Red Cross chapter)

(800) HELPNOW(English speaking); [phone] (Spanish)

The Islamic Center of Southern California - Make checks payable to Kosovo Relief Fund

434 South Vermont Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90020

[phone]

Doctors Without Borders 

6 E. 39th St., 8th Floor

New York, NY 10016

[phone]

The Studio City Residents Association will be raising funds at its regular monthly meeting to be held Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the CBS Studio Center, 4024 Radford Ave. [phone]

Daily News Staff Writer Sharline Chiang contributed to this story.

CAPTION(S):

box

Box: HOW TO HELP (see text)