I'm reporting this in some detail because
this good work came from YOU. Your donations helped today in a very
tangible way.
Steve Davis of
Baptist Child and Family Services and
CERI (Children's Emergency
Relief International) has been a friend of mine for about 15 years. He organized
our
recent trip to Moldova to work with orphans and other displaced children.
Steve's base of operations is in Houston, but he has come to San Antonio for a
few months to run one of the shelters for Katrina victims. Since I already knew
Steve, I decided it would make sense to work with him.
The BCFS/CERI Shelter in South San Antonio
I called him on Monday and told him I had about
$800 from RLP readers, along with a lot of volunteers from our church.
"Tell me what you need," I said.
As it turns out, generous donations of clothing
and diapers have made the shelter look like a thrift store. "No more clothes,"
he said. "What's needed is cash on hand for bus tickets and to handle the scores
of individual situations that arise by the hour." From what I saw, most of the folks at the
shelter were in wheelchairs and suffering from a variety of ailments. Steve
quietly mentioned that a critical need for adult diapers had arisen, among other
things.
That's all I needed to hear. This morning I put
$400 cash into his hand and said, "Use it for all the little
things you are going to need over the next week or so. I'll check back with you
later. (Don't you love it when there is absolutely NO red tape? You gave the
money to me. I found a good way to use it. I drove over and put the cash in his
hand!)
Steve at the check-in station
"We also could use some help with laundry," he
said. "We have folks who have clothes, but they have no way to
wash them." You know, I never thought about laundry. If you have a shelter full
of people, the laundry needs alone are huge.
So it seems our church is on laundry duty. I
loaded up bags of laundry and brought them to our Wednesday night meal. I asked
people to grab a bag or two. I'll collect them tomorrow and bring them back
Friday. What Steve needs, we will do. Whatever needs to be bought, I'll use the
rest of your money to buy. I'll call him Friday morning and see what he needs
before I head down there with the clean laundry.
Yours Truly With Our First Load of Laundry
I'm so grateful for your generosity! I'll keep
you posted on what's happening.
rlp
