In the right place

[omorka]

Well, the church service today was all about how we could Help. We learned, among other things, that there are plenty of volunteers for this weekend and next, but that they're thin on the ground for volunteers during the weekdays, and worried about whether we'll still have all these volunteers when this is two weeks' old news. Our food drive essentially got co-opted and swallowed by the larger food/water/clothing/bedding drive for the church, which is fine by me, although I kind of want our box back when they're done with it.

I have, in essence, volunteered to be second-tier help - emotional support for the people who are actually out there doing the work, lay facilitating for grief counseling, small group lay facilitating for those who are relocating here semi-permanently or permanently and need a circle of ears to talk to. I'm not so good at lifting that load and toting that bale, but I can listen, and lend strength to those who are out there lifting and toting and binding wounds, and need to pour it out to someone before they can go on. It's a small part. It's not an essential part. But it's what I can do. (Other than donating money; I decided to donate to the church/UUA rather to the Red Cross simply because the church's volunteers are Right There in the Dome and the Convention Center where they can do immediate good.)

The closing hymn was "Lean On Me." Yeah, two hundred middle-class overeducated white people singing "Lean On Me" to piano accompaniment and swaying like a revival tent. It was great! This is totally where I need to be.

Houston Pagans - if we know of any Louisiana paganfolk who have evacuated here and need a place to stay, the volunteers at First UU Church are willing to help match them to local shelters and houses that have offered rooms whether they're associated with a UU church or not, as well as opening our Earth-centered chalice circles to them. Please help pass that information along.

binaryathena and lord_of_entropy, I think we may need to tweak our idea for our Harvest ritual a bit - any chance I can snag you guys to hash through some things sometime this next weekend?

Comments

[moontyger.livejournal.com]

Y'all need any clothes? I can't donate anything else, really, but that I can do. Just have to figure out how to get them there.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

The Red Cross people said that they have enough clothing for the immediate needs, except for the very large sizes (3X and larger) and school-appropriate children's clothes and shoes. Both the Astrodome and George R. Brown have rooms full of donated clothing that hasn't been distributed yet, and adding more to the pile right now will only make things more difficult.

Havng said that, if you wanted to drop some clothes off at the church, I'm sure that they'd be passed on to the appropriate charity if the refugee centers aren't accepting them. I'm planning on waiting a few weeks before looking at clothing donations - if they need them (and they very well might), they'll put out a call for them once they've gone through what they currently have, and if not, I have a few things I can donate to Goodwill, with the expectation that they will sell them and pass the proceedings on to the refugees or the usual homeless (who, of course, are still here).