Praying for Oklahoma

On Monday May20, 2013 the nation watched as the town of Moore, Oklahoma was devastated by a deadly tornado. Here are just a few of the pictures media and others caught that day:

I am not currenlty in Oklahoma as a volunteer with the Red Cross. The pictures showing Red Cross volunteers are from their local chapter. I have updated my status so that I can deploy if they need additional volunteers.

GOD BLESS TEACHERS... a teacher in Moore, Oklahoma finds one of the students in his class, that he thought he'd lost in Monday's tornado.

From the Moore Community Shelter in Moore, OK. Pictures from damaged areas.

And please don't forget about all the lost pets! Pets are family too!

One thing we know for sure and that is in time of need Americans pull together to help each other out. That has certainly happened this week for those affected not just in Oklahoma but Texas, Missouri and other states where dangerous storms passed through this week. The media focus was primarily on Oklahoma because of the mass casualties including young students who parished while at school where there was no reinforced tornado shelter available. Rather than focus on blame, most Americans chose to open their hearts and wallets to help.

Although Kansas City was not affected directly by the severe weather on Monday other than some hail and high winds, Kansas Citians rose to the challenge to help those affected elsewhere. Numerous efforts began to collect money, bottled water and donations. One particular event included a telethon. KMBC Channel 9 (Kansas City) and H&R Block teamed up to host a telethon from 5-10:30pm Tuesday May 22, 2013 to benefit the victims affected by tornados in Oklahoma and Texas. The telethon was set up at H&R Blocks call center to raise money for the Red Cross specifically to assist those impacted by the tornados in Oklahoma and Texas. Way to go Kansas City for raising over $46,000 for the relief efforts! That number will actually climb once the mail-in donations are recieved. Folks could donate by credit card the night of the telethon or mail in a check. I joined fellow Red Cross volunteers as well as H&R Block employees to help man the phones during the telethon. We recieved well over 800 calls! Callers wanted to help in anyway they could and they certainly did that! Donations ranged from $10 to $1000. Every donation is appreciated. The calls came from all over Kansas City including Lenexa, Overland Park, Bonner Springs to name a few from the Kansas side and of course Kansas City, Sedalia, Maryville, Blue Springs, etc from the Missouri side. Thank you Kansas City!                                         

Here are some of my fellow Red Cross Volunteers in action at the telethon:

Linda Leach and I partner up on Thursday evenings to provide DAT coverage for KC. DATs respond to local emergencies such as fires, floods and yes... tornados!

Sherri Odell is one of our amazing volunteers that does everything from Logisitics to DAT to media relations! You may have caught her interview live from the telethon during the 9pm KMBC Channel 9 newscast.

If you look closely you can see Darren Ashlock under the Free Sign.

I did my best to avoid the cameras but I hear that some of my friends spotted me on the news anyway. Oh well, at least they caught my good side (backside)! :)  Have I mentioned how proud I am to be a Red Cross Volunteer?

Didn't catch the telethon and still want to make a donation? You still can! People who wish to make a donation can support American Red Cross Disaster Relief, which helps provide food, shelter and emotional support to those affected by disasters like the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma and Texas as well as disasters big and small throughout the United States by visiting redcross.org, dialing 1-800-REDCROSS or texting REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. You can visit the Red Cross facebook page for more information.

Currently, there many opportunties in the Kansas City area to help including a water bottle drive hosted by KCTV5 as well as an upcoming Royals game where donations will be accepted.

                         

"Take 5 to Care: Helping Oklahoma" launched at noon Tuesday. You can take your bottled water to their studio at 4500 Shawnee Mission Parkway in Fairway, KS until midnight Wednesday May 22, 2013.

                                  

Royals Charities will support local relief efforts for Moore, Okla., with a $10,000 donation to Heart to Heart International. In addition, the Royals will host fundraising efforts during the home series against Angels, May 23-26. All in-stadium fundraising will be directed to the American Red Cross. How to help: http://atmlb.com/10TFKOx.

Before making a donation please verify the organization is valid. Unfortunately with disasters comes thiefs, thugs and scammers. For official information from Moore Oklahoma, please visit their Facebook Page. https://www.facebook.com/cityofmoore. Please check with officials before volunteering or sending any donations.

And please if you haven't done so already and you live in tornado alley... please download the tornado app from the Red Cross. It's one of many useful resources during bad weather!

Be safe!



Volunteering at Fur Ball... Wayside Waifs annual charity event!

Not only do I volunteer for the Red Cross but I volunteer for Wayside Waifs. I mostly spend time with the cats but occasionally will cross over to the dog side to play with the puppies or take a dog or two out on a walk. Tonight was the annual fund raising event for Wayside Waifs. Fur Ball is Wayside Waifs largest fundraiser, raising funds that directly support life saving programs and services. Featuring a different theme each year, guests enjoy live entertainment, gourmet dinner, 18 hosted bars, amazing silent and live auctions, 100% of the proceeds from this event save thousands of abandoned, abused and homeless animals. Thank you to all of you who donated! The theme for this years Fur Ball was Bone-anza. Here some pics from the event: 

Surrounded by cuteness at the Fur Ball!

Free Kitten Kisses at the Kitten Corral!

I took the opportunity to snuggle with a kitty before I was needed at my station!

And not to be outdone by the kittens, there were free puppy hugs at the Puppy Lounge!

    

One of the items in the silent auction is this jewelry box. Wouldn't your cats or dogs bling look good in this box?

More auction items:

 

A tour of the Gala:

A peek inside the dinning area. It was a packed house!

Gary Lezak was our emcee again this year. Great Job Gary!!!

Our social media team hard at work behind the scenes. Great Job Amy and Lisa!

What a great night for Wayside Waifs, more than $470,000 was raised for the animals, AWESOME!!!

I am very fortune to be able to volunteer for 2 great organizations! Volunteering has been such a blessing for me!!! I can't wait to see what opportunities volunteering offers me in the future!

Disaster Assessment... Shawnee Fire 5/10/13

Ever have one of those days where you don't want to do anything but sleep all day? I was having that kind of day today. If you have been following my blog you may have read that I struggle with depression and PTSD. It's a new diagnosis for me and is a result of several stressful events over the past year or so including the fire that took my kitty Cosmo from me as well as all my possessions. I have good days and bad days. Today started out as a bad day...

I wasn't on call for the Red Cross today but my phone rang around 3pm with a call from the Red Cross to assist at an apartment fire. I am currently only working part-time so I was home and available to respond to the call. It was an apartment fire in Shawnee. The location wasn't too far from me and I ended up being the first Red Cross Volunteer to arrive on scene. The Shawnee Fire Incident Commander was teasing me because I behaved and actually parked behind a patrol car instead of cross through the barrier the patrol car created without asking permission (the Shawnee PD officer would tease me about it later as well!). That meant I had to walk up the hill to the apartment complex (instead of drive up closer) and the Incident Commander was teasing me to run up to him. I wish I could remember names but unfortunately that's one of the many things I am terrible at! Shawnee Fire and Police were great today! They provided the info we (Red Cross) needed to get the residents assistance. Many times we are contacted late enough in to the incident that fire and police have already left by time we arrive. It's always nice to see fire and police still on the scene when possible because they can provide us relevant information about what actually happened but also who really lives in the residence. In some cases we sometimes need assistance with crowd control as well. Fire and other disasters tends to draw looksyloos (as well as not so honest people that look to take advantage in disaster situations) which can make for a dangerous situation for us and those residents actually impacted by the disaster. Anyhoo, Shawnee Fire and Police were still on scene and provided the assistance we needed to gather up the residents who were affected and provide them the assistance they needed while not worrying about the onlookers getting in the way. We always wait for fire to tell us it's safe to enter a residence before we go in to do the damage assessment. If the fire department has already left the scene by time we arrive we can't always do our assessment and that's why we like to see them still on scene when we arrive. It's as much for our safety as it is for the residents. It's also nice when fire or police recognize volunteers and say "Hi" as well as do what they can to provide assistance. Some of the fire fighters today recognized me from my fire and asked how I was doing. That's a nice gesture especially since it has been over a year ago and many people have already forgotten about it. A fire like the one I experienced in Feb 2012 isn't something you get over quickly so I appreciate that the fire fighters asked how I was doing!

Thanks for the help today Shawnee Fire and Police!

One apartment unit was completely destroyed, 2 others were affected by smoke and 3 others were aired out so that carbon monoxide was not an issue for those residents. In all, the Red Cross assisted 6 adults and an infant. My day is always brighter when I am able to help provide assistance to others! I would call today a good day...