I am home from Oklahoma City,
but I definitely brought back the visceral images of the tornado's
destruction.
After spending time in neighborhoods that had been reduced to twisted
piles of rubble, and as I drove home into my own cul-de-sac, I couldn't
help but imagine what it would feel like to walk into one's own
decimated neighborhood.
After spending time outside the memorial at Plaza Tower Elementary where
there is only a foundation with a chainlink fence, it reminded me of
Ground Zero in NYC, of burnt neighborhoods here in Colorado, and other
disaster sites I've visited.
However I am happy to report that together we made a difference for 400
people in Moore, Oklahoma.
We trucked in your 400 donated quilts, and teamed up with the Stitchin'
Post across the street from the Town Hall, and handed out a total of 500
quilts and several hundred pillowcases to many families who had lost
their homes, or worse.
(Stitching' Post brought over the pillowcases, and about 100 additional
donated quilts.)
If you'd like to read more about our work with Mission of Love, you can watch this video or read this article. We were also on Channel 4 News in Oklahoma City but I don't have a link to the video clip yet.
We met with Mayor Glenn Lewis,
to get a big picture perspective on the aftermath of this event.
One thing that is so devastating is the huge amount of money that has
been donated to big name relief organizations, and only a shamefully
small fraction of that money has gone to helping the people who lost
their homes.
12,000 homes were destroyed, and 5700 are too damaged to live in until
they are repaired.
Before donating to a big relief organization, please investigate the
organization (no matter how famous!) to see how much of their donated
funds go to "administrative expenses".
…
yes I am talking about THAT big relief organization.
Actually there are 2 of them that are sitting on funds, not only from
this tornado, but from the previous tornado!
Kathy Price was so moved by our time with Danni and her family,
that she decided to start an effort to rebuild homes in Moore, as
Mission of Love has done after Katrina in Lafitte LA, and also in Pine
Ridge SD.
When you place an order with us, if you choose Mission of Love as your eQuilter Charity, your 2% will go towards the building supplies
for the first house we will rebuild together, for Danni's family, who
lost not only their uninsured home, (read the article) but their 9 year
old son Christopher.
If you wish to lend additional support for rebuilding homes in Moore, you can donate to Mission of Love via PayPal, or volunteer to help build a house with Kathy and Mission of Love.
If you missed out on donating a quilt, you can still send them to the
Stitchin' Post, who will make sure your quilt(s) get into the hands of
those most in need.
(316 N.
Broadway, Moore OK 73160)
Please take a look at my Oklahoma Tornado photo page, to see photos of those who received your quilts.
Many thanks to Patty Reed Designs and EE Schenck for the 400 beautiful "Hope" tote bags that were given to each quilt recipient.
Also thanks to eQuilter customer and Moore tornado survivor Linda Crook who drove us around for 48 hours.
Next weekend I'll be writing to you from the Sacred Threads show and Not Fade Away conference in the Wash DC area.
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