Colorlines.com created an amazing infographic to detail Hurricane Katrina a decade later. Take a good look at it. How does this article and image make you feel? How does it inspire you to take action?
Here are some images from the infograhic, but check out the entire article and illustration because it is fantastic!
“Support our troops” is used so often. Unfortunately, often as propaganda; propaganda for our government to make decisions to intervene. Supporting our troops is to support those individuals with brave and unconditional passion, who go into any circumstance focused on protecting us and others who are harmed while hoping to make situations better. Supporting them goes much further. Supporting our troops is not only while they are on active duty. Supporting them includes when they return to our country and need real assistance to live their daily lives. As a country, we are not succeeding in supporting our troops when they come home to us.
Fortunately some organizations are setting strong examples of how to use the skills of veterans for amazing purpose. Team Rubicon is a leader in this. Team Rubicon is not only setting precedent for a great way of how to put veterans to work, but also what proper disaster relief looks like. Team Rubicon began after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti with six veterans. Today is has expanded greater than most would have expected. Click here for the full history.
This Veterans Day, Team Rubicon has set a goal to get 500 new monthly donors. The History Channel will match the donations so anything you give will double. This is an amazing campaign. They are calling it ELEVEN11.
On this Veterans Day, honor them and support them. Find out how you can directly assist and thank the veteran community. It is a day about them, not about feeding into corporate greed taking advantage of a day when people can shop, not about the government guilting us, and not a day about confusing supporting our troops and veterans with the decisions they had no role in making.
My year has been so full of meeting hundreds of different people and getting so much knowledge, joy, heartache and inspiration from all of them. One of the moments where I was able to just take it all in was a night in Tuscaloosa when Alyssa and I got the chance to sit with all of the volunteers from the American Red Cross on their last night in Tuscaloosa after they had been there for almost two months. Here is the post I wrote on that night…
This is Marlene. She is one of the American Red Cross Volunteers that have been here for the majority of the time since the storms
on April twenty seventh. As we were cleaning up lots on Thursday, she was going around from worksite to worksite encouraging volunteers to take breaks and get water in them. When she came by where we were working, she scared Alyssa to death with her megaphone.
On Friday, we ran back into her when we went to help an Americorps team take down and clean up a shelter that is originally built as a community center. In between being drilled with questions by Alyssa about the Red Cross, and her drilling Alyssa on questions about when will she meet her son, Marlene invited us to dinner with her team of volunteers. This would be their last dinner together before they all went back to their respective homes. Of course Alyssa and I went to sit among all this knowledge and insight over the last month and a half.
This group of volunteers was from all over. Marlene is from Michigan, and she definitely brought the Midwest to this group. There was also a woman from Wisconsin and a couple people from Ohio. One of them, Sandy, has been volunteering for eleven years. She told us about her first Disaster Relief (DR) assignment and that was September eleventh. She was sent to ground zero that following January and talked about how still, four months later, the tension and need was so great for everyone there. She felt then, helping so many people in need that she truly had a place volunteering at the American Red Cross.
Next to her was Jason who was from Kentucky. This was his first DR and he is getting the instructions of where he is going next this morning. He can’t wait. From what Alyssa and I gathered sitting there with him, listening to him talk about what had happened in Tuscaloosa, he’s ready for the next assignment.
Next to me was Greg who handed us our lunches that day. He is from Alabama and like Jason, this was his first DR too. He was in the kitchen for the duration of his assignment in Tuscaloosa but is vocal that his next assignment will be driving the assistance van with Marlene.
Keep in mind that the age ranges of these volunteers are all over the place. There were a few that were in their twenties and thirties and then is just went up from there: Anyone can be a volunteer. It was a remarkable moment to spend with these individuals and see the bonds that were made through this incredible disaster and to know how each of them has helped to make things a little brighter in Tuscaloosa. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer with American Red Cross, then check out your local chapter and they can get you started with training classes.
I like to pass these emails on to the website from time to time to just share what else is happening and how are other ways that we can all connect and help in each other’s lives. I met Mike Baumgartner while we were in Tuscaloosa helping out at the Church of Christ food and distribution center. He and his motor home have been all over the country since we last saw them at the end of June. Currently Mike is in Bastrop, TX helping up with the clean up from the wild-fires that burned over 1554 homes at the beginning of September. This fire, coming from one of the worst droughts that Texas has ever seen where some are mentioning that it could last up to fifteen years. The Disaster Assistance team from the Church of Christ is always on the move and even if you aren’t from that particular church, it is still beneficial to take note of what other individuals are doing to help out in other communities. I know when we helped out with them in Tuscaloosa, we weren’t the only volunteers there that didn’t have an affiliation with the church.
At the present time here in Bastrop, TX at the Bastrop Church of Christ there is only two full time mission groups that are he…lping. Disaster Relief(Nashville) is providing part of the supplies and Disaster Assistance CoC is working onsite 24/7 with the Elders on all phases of this relief effort(homeowner fire damage cleanup, meal prep, supply distribution and all volunteer coordination for these efforts). Like at our past mission works we plan on being here as long as the Elders of Bastrop CoC feel we are needed.
I also want to thank the Elders and the members here at Bastrop CoC for all there help and support. So many of them are here everyday to make sure things are running smoothly. Also many other churches have sent volunteers, supplies and funds to help this work Thank You Thank You Thank You.
As always we still need three things:
Your Prayers
Volunteers
Funds
To Volunteer or Donate go to: www.disasterassistancecoc.com
—
Mike Baumgartner
Disaster Assistance CoC
Combating Natural Disasters with Acts of God
281-881-1876
www.disasterassistancecoc.com
This is Marlene. She is one of the American Red Cross Volunteers that have been here for the majority of the time since the storms on April twenty seventh. As we were cleaning up lots on Thursday, she was going around from worksite to worksite encouraging volunteers to take breaks and get water in them. When she came by where we were working, she scared Alyssa to death with her megaphone.
On Friday, we ran back into her when we went to help an Americorps team take down and clean up a shelter that is originally built as a community center. In between being drilled with questions by Alyssa about the Red Cross, and her drilling Alyssa on questions about when will she meet her son, Marlene invited us to dinner with her team of volunteers. This would be their last dinner together before they all went back to their respective homes. Of course Alyssa and I went to sit among all this knowledge and insight over the last month and a half.
This group of volunteers was from all over. Marlene is from Michigan, and she definitely brought the Midwest to this group. There was also a woman from Wisconsin and a couple people from Ohio. One of them, Sandy, has been volunteering for eleven years. She told us about her first Disaster Relief (DR) assignment and that was September eleventh. She was sent to ground zero that following January and talked about how still, four months later, the tension and need was so great for everyone there. She felt then, helping so many people in need that she truly had a place volunteering at the American Red Cross.
Next to her was Jason who was from Kentucky. This was his first DR and he is getting the instructions of where he is going next this morning. He can’t wait. From what Alyssa and I gathered sitting there with him, listening to him talk about what had happened in Tuscaloosa, he’s ready for the next assignment.
Next to me was Greg who handed us our lunches that day. He is from Alabama and like Jason, this was his first DR too. He was in the kitchen for the duration of his assignment in Tuscaloosa but is vocal that his next assignment will be driving the assistance van with Marlene.
Keep in mind that the age ranges of these volunteers are all over the place. There were a few that were in their twenties and thirties and then is just went up from there: Anyone can be a volunteer. It was a remarkable moment to spend with these individuals and see the bonds that were made through this incredible disaster and to know how each of them has helped to make things a little brighter in Tuscaloosa. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer with American Red Cross, then check out your local chapter and they can get you started with training classes.
