First of all, I went to Concord with several other Hoover City Schools teachers on Wednesday. We helped cook about 1,000 hamburgers and hot dogs, played with kids, and delivered food in the community. Blue Bell Ice Cream even provided dessert for everyone. It was nice to watch the kids have fun, but difficult to go into the devastated community. We saw first-hand how powerful that storm was. We saw how tornadoes have no reason to them. You could seeuntouched houses standing next to blank foundations. And houses completely destroyed with a perfectly untouched mail box out front. There is no way to prepare for what you see.
Seeing these things can only give you more resolve to help. I realize how very blessed I am to be one of the citizens of this area who is able to provide support. As I said in a previous post, it truly is better to give than to receive right now.
At school, we are collecting baby items, cleaning supplies, food, and backpacks for tornado victims. The kids get out of their cars during carpool and see this:
They are so thrilled to be part of the solution to this HUGE problem. They bring their items to our safe little school so that we can send them to temporary classrooms in areas like Tuscaloosa and Pratt City that no longer have their schools. I am so proud of the little philanthropists we've got at Trace!
Jennifer Wagner in California has done a FABULOUS job of putting together a website and networking teachers around the country who want to help. We have recieved emails from teachers who have so much to give. We've already received cash donations and boxes are on their way full of school supplies. It is amazing and humbling and exciting to be part of it! We are still looking for teachers who want to give and teachers who want to receive. Please check out our website and spread the word. We don't want there to be a single classroom, teacher, or student who does not have what they need to thrive in school. What one person does is just a drop in the bucket, but what we can do together can fill a bucket!
The local Fox affiliate found out about all of you who want to help and wrote this article. They call it my project, but it is OURS! I'm just a contact person.
We went to a church in Tuscaloosa County that is now a relief center for tornado victims. We were looking for something we could do with my husband feeling under the weather and stumbled on a facebook post that said they need supplies. We showed up with a car full from Sam's and stayed for most of the day. We unloaded trucks, cars, and even this bus all the way from ILLINOIS!!!
There was a table full of backpacks from a school in Georgia. They are now in my car and headed for precious students who need them!
Thank you all who have already given. Thank you all who have been thinking about and praying for the victims. Thank you all who will find it in your heart to give in the future. We will be keeping an eye on the flooding along the Mississippi River. If there is a way for us to spread the gifts towards them, we will!
I will try to update as we deliver. I'm sure there will be several stories of hope!
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