The following is a recounting of my first day volunteering over at the Astrodome.
Today was my first day to volunteer over at the Astrodome. I have two small children, so I was unable to go before today, but I was determined to put in my time and help the people that were our guests feel welcome.
I arrived a little before 6am and sat through a brief orientation session where they asked for computer and health professionals specifically. I volunteered my computer skills and was immediately assigned to work on a database being developed to match missing relatives. In both the Astrodome and the Reliant Center (where I was stationed) there are LARGE walls, much like those surrounding the World Trade Center, seeking information on missing relatives. The computer database we were tasked to build was designed to leverage that information and bring about reunions that much quicker.
I sat down at a laptop computer and for much of the next eight hours I did nothing but data entry. The stories on each handwritten card were similar. Brothers seeking sisters. Sons seeking mothers. Aunt and uncles seeking small children. In the midst of the data entry I also helped specific evacuees try and locate loved ones through searching the Red Cross database, MSNBC, and numerous other websites already setup to catch messages from interested and concerned relatives of the missing. It became clear that many families were scattered all over the state. One family had to scramble to find transportation to find their children that we found in Fort Worth.
The people we were helping were the nicest people we could ever ask to help. They were tremendously grateful, if not bewildered by the magnitude of the volunteer force arrayed to help them. For every medical patient, at one point there were FOUR doctors available to help. People drove in from all over the state (I sat next to someone who drove in from San Antonio) and there was a story that a couple from GERMANY flew in to volunteer.
I also saw several reunions which played out right in front of our station. There were screams, tears, hugs and great rejoicing and I was grateful to play a small part.
For those who have been grumbling all week about the lack of response (myself included), the one thing I didn't see all day was ANY mention of GWB. Nowhere, nada, zilch. It didn't even come up when we had our milliseconds of downtime. It seemed he was as irrelevant to our existence there in Reliant Center as he had been all week.
I will be returning tomorrow (gotta get some sleep - it was rough getting up at 5:00 am on a Sunday) because after all, Labor Day will not be coming for these folks. We need to show them that people care. I will continue to volunteer after that everyday until they no longer need us. Please do your part, wherever you can.
Houston Rocks. Today I am so proud to call this my hometown.
Cross Posted to Mudflap Wisdom