McKinney, TX Shelter Day Three
As I arrived to work at the Katrina shelter today, a school bus was out front taking the kids in the shelter to local schools. It was good to see the kids getting in to a routine again, however there is a good chance that some will not be in the schools there for very long. Some families are moving closer to Dallas or may move to another state when they find other family members.
I was to work in the clothing distribution section of the shelter today, but they needed me to create some data spreadsheets in Excel instead. Apparently no one had yet logged the number of volunteers, man hours worked, etc. I spent most of my time gathering and logging this data. This was done in the computer lab of about 15 workstations they had set up for the residents and evacuees to find loved ones, take care of some online services like with FEMA, reporting they are ok, and making sure they can access their bank accounts.
First thing in the morning, a volunteer on the computer workstation next to me helped a nice older lady and her son (who was about 50) look for her other son Gilbert, who was still missing. It took about an hour or so searching various websites before they found him! They called him immediately and confirmed that he was in a shelter in Mississippi safe and sound. It was so exciting to see the relief and joy on their faces to know Gilbert was ok.
The next man that sat down was a young father looking for his 2 yr old daughter. He did not have custody of the child and could not find her or her mother. They searched for the daughter for quite a while and thought they had found the mother or a relative, but upon calling, it was a different person by the same name. In the end they were not successful and he will just keep trying everyday until he finds her. It was heart wrenching to hear him talk about his daughter as he held back tears. His eyes spoke of many sleepless nights and worry.
The volunteer that was helping him told me that she had done this job a couple of days before and had 2 people find out the relative or friend had died. On top everything else they are going through, the pain of losing someone must be unbearable. I am praying that all of these people will reach out the Lord in this time and He will wrap his arms around them and comfort them.
FEMA showed up again today en masse. About 10-12 people came to answer questions the residents had and direct them to the proper areas beyond what they already knew. Many that have already signed up are waiting for there FEMA checks to arrive. The turn around is fairly quick considering the situation. Many checks are cut and mailed within 36 hours of application if all of the info needed is correct. Some people walked in today smiling, with checks in hand.
I wish I could have stayed longer today to finish my project with the volunteer data. I had just started to get on a roll getting it together after they found a really nice girl to help me. We were ploughing through it, but I had to leave to return my rental car and catch a flight home. Fortunately they found a 3rd person to help her as I departed.
It was an all to short stay in Dallas, my college roommate and is wife were great hosts. As write this now on my flight home, I have to say it was an experience I will never forget, and people that I will never forget. As promised, I will tell some of their stories in the coming days as I return home and get back to the grind. Continue to pray for all of the evacuees as they decide what to do next and still are searching for loved ones.
One point I have to get across again is albeit I worked within a small microcosm of this vast disaster, not one resident/evacuee I spoke to cared about pointing fingers of blame or even brought it up. They just wanted to get their families back together, go back to their home if they had one or start a new life somewhere else. That is what the rest of us should be focused on, helping them, with prayer, donations, and action.
