Those inclined to help the evacuees need not confine
themselves to the area shelters. It looks like a good plenty of them
are put up at the motels around the Atlanta perimeter. Word came to
me that a lot were at a motel near my place of work, and the manager
was asking for donations of supplies, to be delivered for storage to a
nearby community center. So, I went down there and got their list,
and set about whittling it down to what I could afford to buy. I then
went shopping at Sams for a few items on the long list of necessities.
There I spoke with a couple in the next checkout line, hauling
three flatbed trucks piled high with bottled water, hot dogs, and
buns. They were, of their own initiative, road-tripping down to
Biloxi to deliver a meal to people they'd seen on TV. I wished them
well, and then set off for home.
Got home, weathered a domestic spat about having spent too
much, and then went down 285 to the community center. It was in a
projects, nowhere I'd care to be caught after dark. But it was
bustling, with the common area lined with baby supplies, and people
bringing things in. The head guy came out and unloaded my vehicle,
wished me a blessed day, and hurried back inside.
Phoned around to my own church, discovered that it is a
drop-off depot for MUST ministries, which runs the Elizabeth Inn, and
for Kennestone hospital. A lot of the patients who were evacuated
from Gulf hospitals to Kennestone have been accompanied by relatives,
who didn't have a change of dry clothes. So, I'll spend a couple of
hours tomorrow at the church receiving drop-offs. I'll do the same a
few days later, on my day off. Maybe I'll get to deliver stuff, too.
That's always the spiritual payoff for me, seeing the good a donation
does. I really wish I could hit the road with a work camp, like in
the south Georgia floods of 1994. And later, once the government's
gotten out of the way and the media attention has moved on, maybe I
will. But this little bit will have to suffice for now.
Went to Home Depot for some unrelated shopping. A very morose
checkout girl asked if I wanted to give to the Red Cross. When I said
I had given on the internet, she thanked me with a sad, faraway voice.
I asked if she had folks there, and she said her grandfather was among
those trapped at the NO convention center. I made the appropriate
noises and left.
Came home from shopping Sunday afternoon, and passed a couple
of contractor's pickups driving in convoy. They had their trailers
loaded with their bobcat, their generators, lots of gas cans, & etc.
They had duct-taped hand-scrawled signs over the sides of the trucks
and the back of the trailers: "disaster reliefs". I assume they were
heading to the Gulf to aid in cleanup. I pulled up beside each one's
right window, honked, and gave 'em the thumbs up.
I hope the readers with a race fixation can loosen up and have
a little basic human compassion for these people. "Even as you have
done it to the least of these, so you have done it to Me," the verse
says. So, who in this country could be "least"-er than a poor New
Orleans ghetto dweller made homeless by a hurricane? It's a golden
opportunity, for those who know what the real treasure in life is.




--
bruce
The dignified don't even enter in the game.
-- The Jam

The Sanity Inspector wrote:
Word came to
me that a lot were at a motel near my place of work, and the manager
was asking for donations of supplies, to be delivered for storage to a
nearby community center.


don't you guys have the day off. And I don't.

So, I went down there and got their list,
and set about whittling it down to what I could afford to buy. I then
went shopping at Sams for a few items on the long list of necessities.
There I spoke with a couple in the next checkout line, hauling
three flatbed trucks piled high with bottled water, hot dogs, and
buns. They were, of their own initiative, road-tripping down to
Biloxi to deliver a meal to people they'd seen on TV. I wished them
well, and then set off for home.
Got home, weathered a domestic spat about having spent too
much, and then went down 285 to the community center. It was in a
projects, nowhere I'd care to be caught after dark. But it was
bustling, with the common area lined with baby supplies, and people
bringing things in. The head guy came out and unloaded my vehicle,
wished me a blessed day, and hurried back inside.
Phoned around to my own church, discovered that it is a
drop-off depot for MUST ministries, which runs the Elizabeth Inn, and
for Kennestone hospital. A lot of the patients who were evacuated
from Gulf hospitals to Kennestone have been accompanied by relatives,
who didn't have a change of dry clothes. So, I'll spend a couple of
hours tomorrow at the church receiving drop-offs. I'll do the same a
few days later, on my day off. Maybe I'll get to deliver stuff, too.
That's always the spiritual payoff for me, seeing the good a donation
does. I really wish I could hit the road with a work camp, like in
the south Georgia floods of 1994. And later, once the government's
gotten out of the way and the media attention has moved on, maybe I
will. But this little bit will have to suffice for now.
Went to Home Depot for some unrelated shopping. A very morose
checkout girl asked if I wanted to give to the Red Cross. When I said
I had given on the internet, she thanked me with a sad, faraway voice.

I have one work station here (same one that was having the error
message that they couldn't open two browser sessions) but i finally got
through I think and made my pledge

When trying to open single session a viewer pops
up for a single second and disappears. I
have seen this happen in other offices workstations that we run, and
don't know whether this is
a quick fix

i'll just have to check the credit card bill to figure out if it went
through

weirdly, abc premieres a show in a few weeks about a florida town after
a hurricane based on the director's wife's stories about Andrew.
weirdly coincidentl

mk5000

"_Invasion_ is an allegory. this little town is a microcosm of how you
deal with your life-and with the unknown- post disaster--Shaun Cassidy

On 5 Sep 2005 17:57:56 -0700 in atl.general, "marika"
shared with usenet this thought...:

[...]

I have one work station here (same one that was having the error
message that they couldn't open two browser sessions) but i finally got
through I think and made my pledge

When trying to open single session a viewer pops
up for a single second and disappears. I
have seen this happen in other offices workstations that we run, and
don't know whether this is
a quick fix

i'll just have to check the credit card bill to figure out if it went
through

If you provided them with an email address, they ought to have sent
you a confirmation. You can also phone your credit card company and
ask; the number should be on the back of your card.

As for your browser problem, ask if there's some company firewall
spiking the connection.



weirdly, abc premieres a show in a few weeks about a florida town after
a hurricane based on the director's wife's stories about Andrew.
weirdly coincidentl

mk5000

"_Invasion_ is an allegory. this little town is a microcosm of how you
deal with your life-and with the unknown- post disaster--Shaun Cassidy



--
bruce
The dignified don't even enter in the game.
-- The Jam

I do not know the exact number but I know 10's of thousands of people
were brought here to San Antonio after the facilities in Houston were
filled. There is a huge shelter at what used to be Kelly AFB, and as
that filled to capacity, I understand they opened one in a recently
closed mall. The Kelly facility has a Salvation Army donation station in
a large warehouse close to the shelter.I went yesterday and today. Both
times there was a line of cars about 1/4 mile long waiting to donate.
Volunteers in and around the warehouse were working like a swarm of bees
From what I saw, people were donating very generously. Really made me
feel good to see it. I only wish Jesse Jackson and his ilk could be
there to see "racism" in action. The percentage of Blacks here is
probably about equal to the percentage of non Blacks in the shelters. I
seriously doubt a single person there gave the least thought about
race-- their fellow man needed help and they are going to give them all
they can and then some. BTW, any suggestions for useful items not
mentioned specifically will be appreciated. Planning to go again in a
few days, as soon as I have a chance. Larry

Bruce, you must be some kind of wonderful person.

Holger

The Sanity Inspector wrote:

If you provided them with an email address, they ought to have sent
you a confirmation.

thanks for the assist

I think I did.

You can also phone your credit card company and
ask; the number should be on the back of your card.

I will have to do that in fact.

As for your browser problem, ask if there's some company firewall
spiking the connection.


oh yeah there's a firewall, but someone else i know signed on and it
seemed fine for her. probably just something happened to me that
didn't to her.

mk5000

"electricity and chairs"--carol mendelsohn

Bruce, you must be some kind of wonderful person.

Well, thanks! But there's plenty of opportunity for everyone to do
something. This disaster is still going to be here long after the news
cycle has rolled on to the next thing.

--
bruce
The dignified don't even enter in the game.
-- The Jam