Hurricane Katrina--volunteering Written By Evelyn 09/08/2005 On Wednesday, 5 of us met around 9:30 at the Astrodome. We registered, went through orientation, and waited for our assignment. We were assigned to work the messaging center. That didn't work out because the REd Cross person(s) assigned to the messaging center were no where to be found. hmmmm But we did get to walk the floor of the Reliant Center. It was quiet and pleasant....kids playing ball, napping, socializing. The cots were very organized....sections for families, single women, lost kids (each had a teddy bear on their bed). Generally, all of the guests seemed to be in good spirits. THEN the center had a special guest--Bill Cosby. He walked out onto the floor and began giving an inspirational speech with only two officers for protection, no reporters, no cameras, just him. It was nice. The guests crowded around him to see the "star" that was trying to help them. We were all impressed with Cosby's concern for these people. Of course, we were excited to see a star ourselves. Wahoo! After not having a job for over 2 hours, we headed for the GR Brown convention center..hoping for work. We registered, waited, NOTHING. There were just too many volunteers! In the end, we were happy that there was more help than needed. That's definitely the way it should be. So we decided that maybe we should hold off volunteering for a while. Keep checking the calendar. We'll post volunteering opportunities in a couple of weeks--when we think other Houstonian generosity may start to decline. |
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 Rachel |
Nice getting together with y'all ..to (try to) volunteer! After you left, I headed up to the dining room of the Convention Center and found some of the people I came to know at the Baytown Shelter. I stayed and chatted with them for an hour and was happy to hear they were being well taken care of there. I went back to the GBConvention Center on both Thursday and Friday and was able to volunteer - one day in the dining room, one day organizing clothes in the donation center. On Thursday, they gave me an "Operation Compassion" t-shirt to wear while I am there. But like you said, Ev, soooo many volunteers - and I agree that's a good thing! |