[Steppes] Help Needed at Reunion Arena

Mon Sep 12 07:45:28 PDT 2005

I know that people in Ansteorra have been very active and generous in
helping the people in Meridies.  I just received this from a friend in
Calontir; it is written by a Calontiri who has been deployed to Steppes to
help with the refugees here.  I've edited out some of the extraneous stuff,
such as "would someone forward this to the Ansteorra list" and a bit of
irrelevant commentary.  I did leave in her rather long description of what
NOT to send - please notice!

If someone doesn't step up for coordination and delivery, let me know.  Oh,
and yes - please pass this along to the other local lists if you're able,
as I cannot.  She did specify the Chirurgeon and Ansteorra lists, but I
figured the local Barony is more geographically able to help.  Thanks!

                             ---= f/k/a  "Little Morgan"

Original Message:
-----------------
From:    charis_doula at ATT.NET 
Subject: 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.

I appreciate your consideration of this request.

Ann Totusek/Sister Merry Tarry

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