Update 10/26/08
It is hard to believe another week has passed, yet so exciting to see what God’s people are doing to share the love of Christ in such practical ways. During the past week, we have been blessed by everyone who has assisted in the efforts here on Galveston.
Several volunteers arrived last Sunday. Mary Edna had served with us in MS, and has returned to serve long-term in our kitchen. She will be overseeing a lot of the meal preparation and food service, allowing me to work more on the administrative side of the ministry. Chris, or “Cleatis” to many, has also returned this week, and will be serving long-term, assisting Mary Edna in the kitchen.
We continue to be blessed by Steve and Lezlie, Kara, and Alan; as well as the local volunteers, Melinda and Debra. What an awesome thing, to see God networking His people from all over the country to serve those who are so broken and hurting in TX right now.
I want to share with you a few statistics this week, rather than a specific story, as I see the urgency of getting some hard facts out. I received an update just yesterday of information put together by FEMA showing that they are predicting Ike to be the 3rd most costly disaster in our nation’s history at $21B, only to follow Katrina and Andrew. Wow! Who would have guessed, with so little media coverage? I can personally tell you, from firsthand knowledge, that the need is very great!
I was one of the many who had no clue that Galveston was a massive city of 60,000 residents prior to Ike, and far more than a vacation destination. Of those 60,000 year round residents, something like 86% of their homes were damaged in the storm. And, 2,000 homes are destroyed, beyond repair. As of yesterday, 7,380 families had registered with FEMA, and many people are currently facing homelessness. We are striving to get the word out of our services, and seeing increases in the number of local residence that are coming for meals.
As we are approaching the holiday season, we especially need your assistance with meeting the needs of so many who have recently lost everything. We will be the main distribution point for Toys for Tots on the island. So many children have lost every toy they owned, and this is a great opportunity to share the love of Christ, while adding a little joy to their lives this holiday season. We are also planning a Thanksgiving Outreach, and need your assistance to make both of these events a great success.
For Thanksgiving Outreach, some of our needs are: Turkeys, potatoes, yams, breads, butter, milk, canned pumpkin and pie shells or pumpkin pies, 3-compartment “to-go” containers, & volunteers. For Christmas Outreach we need the following: Hams, turkeys, potatoes, yams, breads, butter, milk, Baking Supplies, 3-compartment “to-go” containers, volunteers, toys, stuffed animals, wrapping paper, candies, cookies, hot cocoa mix, crayons, printer ink for family photos, photo paper, etc. For both outreach projects, as well as the daily outreach we are doing, we need cash donations.
Hungry people are being fed, tired individuals are receiving assistance with the clean up, hearts are being touched, and lives are being changed. All, for the glory of the Lord!