As I write this, volunteers in various cities all over the state are meeting buses filled with evacuees. My own daughter and two young grandsons are among those in Dallas who are greeting tired and bedraggled families when they arrive.
Earlier in the week she, as director of a homeschool activity group in the Dallas area, called on members to help. Moved by haunting television images of suffering and sorrow, almost everyone responded positively. Thursday they sought out hotels housing families who were running out of resources and provided meals in addition to handing out forms on which the estimated 500 victims listed items they were in need of.
Friday, they rounded up those items by either donation or purchase with their own money, until seven trucks, vans, and suburbans were heaped with food, drinks, clothing, diapers, baby formula, toys,and hygiene items, as well as litter and food for one gray cat. Saturday, they delivered the listed items to the hotel families and then moved on to extend hospitality to more evacuees as they arrived in busloads.
In a phone call during a break earlier today, my daughter told me of the people she'd met, those giving help as well as those needing help. One family has welcomed nineteen evacuees into her home and took them shopping for needed items. One woman works a full time job, homeschools her children, heads up extra-curricular activities and is still finding time to donate her efforts. For many, sleep is not a priority when someone needs help. Another man walked onto the scene, stating, "I'm a resident of Terrell and I'm here to help."
Most of the evacuees stepped off the bus wanting only something to eat and drink and a place to clean up. And that's just what was offered them. Amidst other vehicles, my daughter backed up her truck and opened the bed filled with relief items for tired, thirsty folks. Many hotels provided free rooms, and businesses supplied meals for volunteers to serve.
In our phone conversation, she described to me the killing heat on an asphalt parking lot, she told of a distraught new mother and her 8-day-old baby who looked very hot and dehydrated, and she told of feeling stunned by a blow on her back when an elderly woman passed out in the crowd and fell against her. Emergency personnel rushed the woman away in an ambulance.
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