[Ansteorra] Looking for help feeding volunteers at the Dallas Convention Center

[Stefan li Rous]

This came across the SCA-Cooks list. I haven't seen it on the  
Ansteorra list, so I'm forwarding it here.

Stefan

----- Original Message -----
From: <Charis_Doula at att.net>
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2005 3:00 AM
Subject: [SCA-Chirurgeon] Katrina Cleanup

 > So, I've been deployed to Dallas by the Red Cross  I'm working as the
Volunteer/Staff Health nurse in the main shelter at the Convention
Center.
What does this mean, you may ask yourself.  I make sure none of the
volunteers who show up _are_ sick, and do my best to ensure that none of
them _end up_ sick either.  To that end, I run a volunteer lounge (my
idea-
I'm not sure that a Red Cross Shelter has ever had one before, but the
volunteers here sure like it.  I've been providing treats, drinks,
etc. to
make sure that the people putting in long hours don't pass out from
hunger .
I've been hunting down coffee at night to help my night owls stay awake-
Starbucks has been kindly donating a bunch, and boy, is it needed!
There
are a number of volunteers that are working a full time day job,
coming in
after they get off, putting in another full shift here, then going
home to
sleep and starting it all again in the morning.  During the first week
before I set up the lounge, there !
 >  were people almost literally passing out from hunger because they
 > were
pushing themselves so hard.  I've had to sternly send a couple of people
home because they were so bleary they just weren't safe to drive
themselves
home if they waited any longer.
 >
 > So, I'm writing this e-mail for a purpose.  I'd like to ask help of
 > anyone
near enough to do so, or able to contact anyone they might know in the
Dallas area who might be willing to take part ownership in this
endeavor.
I've been taking the snack food out of the shelter stores, which I _am_
allowed to do, however that is food which is also intended for the
residents, and I hate to deplete that.  Everyone is kicking in
wonderfully
to the foodshelves to help out the displaced people who are now being
found
permanent housing, but the process of getting everyone housed is
going to
take time, and I don't want to lose volunteers.  If the experience of
volunteering is so onerous because of lack of food or beverage in
addition
to no pay, I'm afraid that that's just what will happen.
 >
 > So, dear friends in the SCA, fandom, the church, and other places,
 > what
I'd like to ask is that if it's possible for you to do so would you be
willing to help me keep my volunteers in snacks so that the donations
that
we receive for Katrina cleanup can consistently go to the displaced?
If you
as an individual or a group (depending on whether you're in an SF group,
church, church small group, gaming group or whatever) would consider
kicking
in to help me keep these folks well provisioned, it would contribute
greatly
to the running of the shelter.  If you could, or know an individual,
business, or group in the Dallas,TX  area who would be willing, _please_
contact me.  My phone number is (515)971-8762.  Be advised that the
shelter
is in the basement, surrounded by steel and concrete, so they'll
likely to
go directly to my voicemail, but I do check that several times a
day.  If
they're local and willing to drop off supplies, I'd like to
coordinate what
is brought, because some!
 >   things aren't appropriate for our surroundings.  For example, some
wonderful person donated a huge number of shrimp salads.
Unfortunately we
have no refrigeration available, so I had to punt- the shrimp was
sealed in
individual packages in the salads- I pulled them out, found a plastic
box
since I didn't have a cooler, and put them on ice to preserve them.
That
was a very time intensive task, and while I was _very_ grateful for the
donation, it was difficult to deal with, and I'd like to avoid that.
I'm
using things in individually sealed packages as much as possible.  While
it's a bit more expensive, given the public health concerns we have here
it's for the best.  There's been dysentery, and a cholera like
organism has
caused some severe illnesses.
 >
 > Another really good option would be gift cards to WalMart/Sam's
 > Club- that
way I could go get what was needed myself when it was needed rather than
having a lot of extra stuff sitting around when we might not have
space to
store it.  If I ended up with more gift card $$ than I needed I'd
give the
extras to needy families before I left.
 >
 > The one thing that I need to be VERY CLEAR about here, is that I am
 > NOT
asking this as a representative of the Red Cross, just as a person
who is
concerned about the welfare of the people I'm working with, and for our
continued ability to get the volunteers we need, since this is a long
term
project.  This is not going directly to the displaced, it is going
out as a
good-will gesture to our volunteers.  I don't believe that it would
be tax
deductible, but I could check on that.  If it were given as an "in kind"
gift in the form of actual food that was specifically directed to the
volunteer lounge at the Dallas Convention Center/Reunion shelters
under my
care, it might be.  If that's what you'd be able to do, please ask me
and
I'll find out for you.  If you're a long way away (Iowa, MO, etc.) I can
probably receive mail at my hotel, so ask me, and I'll check on it.  It
might also be possible to refill an existing gift card remotely if I
were to
supply the number- again, something I'd have to look into.
 >
 > Could someone on the Calontir list or the SCA Chirurgeons list pass
 > this
on to the Ansteorra and Glenn Abhean (sp) lists please?  I know that
GA is
pretty involved since they have a number of displaced people, but I'd
still
like them to be aware of it.
 >
 > I appreciate your consideration of this request.
 >
 > Ann Totusek/Sister Merry Tarry
 >
 > P.S.- a suggestion to CGG- you were talking about what you could  
do to
contribute- if there's a shelter nearby, consider calling and
volunteering
to go in and run some games for the teens- think Fluxx, Munchkin,
Settlers
of Catan, Apples to Apples, etc.
 >
 > P.P.S to those in SMOFS- yes, I'm running a green room/ stripped down
ConSuite.  And the structure they use for the shelter is virtually
identical
to the Ops model used at WorldCon, WindyCon, Minicon, and Convergence
(probably lots of others, but those are the ones that I've been to and
observed).  I walked into the shelter office, saw the organizational
chart
on the wall, and laughed myself silly realizing that I was going to
be at a
three week con.... just with no SF or gaming.
 > --

--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****