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We have all watched with softened hearts and wet
eyes the tragedy of Katrina.
Thursday 9-1 during our weekly staff
meeting, we were discussing “How could we help?” Like you, we all felt
hopeless and ineffective, if there was just a little something we could
do.... We have always donated medical samples and supplies, as well as
some financial support, to local church missionaries that were outside
of the USA.
But, somehow, that was just not enough.
There needed to be something more.
After all, this disaster was right here,
in our own country, its’ our own people that were hurting, so yes, it
became more personal to all of us. However, how could a few staff in a
single Doctor practice, make any kind of a difference?
But the seed
was planted in that short meeting on Thursday.
By Friday morning, Pam Keene, our office
manager, had donated her daughters’ motorcycle racing rig to haul a
truckload of supplies to the victims. It needed a couple new tires to
securely make the trip, so I donated the tires, and obviously there
would be some co-ordination time involved, plus, Pam wanted to drive the
rig!, so we agreed to donate her time.
Who would pay for the gas?,
Who would help drive?,
where would we go?,
Would any of the other offices have
anything to donate?,
Could we really get a whole 20’ truck
load of things together?,
Would there be anyone there to help
when we got there?
....these we but a few of the questions.
There were no clear answers, but,
we figured we would call a few other Doctors
offices and ask if they had any extra supplies and samples to send along
with the things from our office…
..This is where the
‘wheels started coming
off the rig’ so to speak.
Paula Cross, RN, our nurse, community and referral liaison, and Pam made
a couple calls…….Centerville Family Dentistry said “sure we’ll send a
bunch of dental care supplies, and……, we were just taking a collection
in our office, could you use it to help with the gas money?” Another
call, to Orthopedic Associates, and now there are a bunch of supplies
from their office, Dr. Brenner, Contemporary OB/GYN, NW Pediatrics, Dr.
Laws, Dr. Meyers, and what are now (by midday) becoming countless
others. A quick call to Far Hills Community Church is met with boxes of
new meds from a recently deceased relative.
Now things are starting to roll.
WOW,
What a response, everybody we spoke
with felt as hopeless and ineffective as we did.
Someone suggested we contact the
Centerville Elementary to write some cards…not only that, they offered
PTO donations for more gas money, plus they sent a letter home with kids
to bring shampoo, toothpaste and other personal supplies for us to take
along….. The response is
overwhelming.
Tuesday 9/6/05 UPDATE…..
The office agreed to have Paula go with
Pam, and likely provide some nursing care and other help. Paula and Pam
will be there for about a week. They are all leaving Thursday and Dr.
Ange will be back in the office for local patients on Monday 9/12/2005.
Then, ‘the wheels fell
off the rig’!
Pam contacted the Centerville Wal-Mart
and a Gordon Food Services operator, looking for some broken cases of
snacks, Pop tarts, diapers, formula, over the counter supplies, etc.
They responded WOW, GFS-a bunch of stuff, and--do you need a bigger
truck?, Centerville Wal-Mart agreed to let us park the collection truck
in their parking lot, and store things in their storage pods, and hand
out flyers, plus they put donation barrels out midday on Friday
throughout the store,
They are ¾ full by mid-afternoon on
Friday!!
Someone else asked if they could give a
little gas money, so we set up a separate link,
Katrina@doctorange.com for contact. We did this because we do not
want to handle cash, plus there is a complete and separate accounting of
every penny. Not one cent of this will go to our expenses or overhead,
those are Dr. Anges’ contributions.
It’s now 4pm on Friday, Lonell our
webmaster , has prearranged commitments and must get this posted before
he leaves, so, I have drawn a line here because of time, but this is
still a work-in-progress (just like everyone of us!)And we will post
updates upon his return.
The phone has rung ALL DAY, we know the
lines are busy almost all the time. The medical items keep flowing in:
From other Doctors’ Offices. From individuals, From Groups, WOW!
Plus, the Centerville Wal-Mart is
emptying their donation bins every few hours. The truck will be packed!
Ridgeville and Dayton Christian schools
are also doing class card and letter projects.
We ask that donations be
dropped off at the Centerville Wal-Mart, they have set up collection
bins in several areas around the store. Medication and sensitive items
should be brought to Dr. Anges’ office in Centerville. The Centerville
Wal-Mart has generously donated their resources as a collection point!
Wed 9/7
UPDATE
Overwhelming! That’s the only way to
describe what has happened: a call to Iams and they’re sending
truckloads of pet food to the refugee animal shelter in Houston, Gordon
Foods have accumulated truckloads to send to the area., and Centerville
Wal-Mart employees donated a skid of water and have continued to fill
the barrels, THEN…
An absolutely inspired series of events
that lead to a call to the PEARL RIVER
COUNTY HOSPITAL (the 125 bed County Hospital) in Poplarville,
Mississippi (about 75 miles North of New Orleans and Biloxi and very
hard hit buy Katrina) ….. Lisa Fairchild, deputy administrator, answers
the phone call and we ask her what they need…. She beings crying and
rejoicing almost uncontrollably, as does the staff in the
background…….they need everything……from band aids to medication…..to
food and blankets……no Doctors available…..their lone ambulance was sent
to New Orleans……they have been told that they should not expect any help
or supplies for at least 30 days…..the whole staff has lived at the
hospital since Monday…..most do not have a home to go to….since the area
is practically leveled….plus they have ¾ of the hospital full of nursing
patients…..and the local school is expecting 3500 refugees on
Thursday!........so, that’s where we’re headed
Wed 9/7
UPDATE 7pm
What exactly were those events?, you
ask? Well Pam needed an Atlas to help figure out where we may go……and in
the front of the 2005 Road Atlas were the phone numbers of each states
DOT, so we called Mississippi DOT to inquire what areas may be passable
and what routes to use…..and the lady that answered the phone said she
knew of a hospital that was in dire need of help……..and gave us their
one working phone number…..which we called and received the responses
noted above…..
A quick hospital update is that they had
electricity restored this afternoon! and are expecting 3500 refugees
tomorrow…
So, Pam and Paula are out picking up
donations from other Doctors offices and the owner of a neighboring
business walks over and
says “I heard you are going to the PEARL
RIVER COUNTY HOSPITAL. I’m so excited about that. I was there, in
Poplarville, at the hospital, and THEY SAVED
MY LIFE!, I would not be here today, and own this business,
if it were not for that hospital !” She proceeded to fill a SUV with
necessary items and donated towards the gas bill! This should run
shivers up and down your spine. It has had that effect on everyone here.
Then someone walks into the office with
boxes of medical supplies that were left over when their spouse passed
away recently. “This has been so good for me because it
moved me to put some finality to the recent
passing of …” tear filled words….she had heard about the need
for supplies through one of the school teachers mentioned earlier, and
just dropped them off at the office.
Thursday is looking like a busy day.
Things to pick up, truck and trailer to pack, plus TV2 news shot and
aired the story (hopefully the web genius will be able to post these for
your review too) and TV22 called for updates and to set a time to
interview Doctor Ange and staff. They will be leaving Friday early
morning for Mississippi. There will not be any updates until Sunday
because I am leaving tomorrow and will not catch up to them until late
Saturday. They are taking a digital camera with them and the webmaster
is on alert to post some updates on Sunday.
From the bottom of our heart’s—THANK
YOU---not only for your actual physical help, but also for your prayers
and kind words.
Wed 9/14
UPDATE 3pm (its about time!)
The last week has been almost beyond
belief!
WE have been so swamped that I have not
even done any written updates, so here goes…..
The video updates are coming fast and
furious, so keep watching the expanded video page, there will be more
items added every couple days, and we are having some of them properly
edited and scripted so you will be able to read a scroll about what you
are really seeing. In some cases Doctor and Staff will actually narrate
some of the clips.
Friday morning, we
arrived, one semi-flat tire and 825 miles and 23 hours later, complete
with road-sore behinds, but in incredible spirits and ready to help.
Gas was a-bit of a problem because we
wanted to keep the tank full, and some stations had 10 gallon limits, so
we would hit 3 or 4 stations per exit. The road signs were all on the
ground so we had to count Interstate exits to find the right one, then
street by street until we found the Hospital, in the dark, at about 4am.
NO electricity means everything is DARK.
First we went to the community college;
it was in a shambles, guard troops everywhere trying to secure it for a
shelter, with huge blowers drying out the inside while others secured
the missing parts of the roof and windows with tarps. One of them
thought the Hospital was next door, he did not know for sure, he had
only been there a few hours.
We arrived at the Pearl River County
Hospital (it was next door)! The power had been restored to the hospital
on a part-time basis.
Some water had arrived along with some
food and ice.
They were still cooking ALL
the meals outside over their grills and barbecues, fueled by the wood
and branches which were everywhere.
Only an ER Doc volunteer from Michigan
was there, plus the remaining staff, most of who had been there since
the storm hit,
they were exhausted!
We were able to give some of them a
break—they sure appreciated it!!
They put us up in part of their
cafeteria, the rest of the Hospital and nursing home was full to the
brim.
The roads are un-imaginable, in some
areas the rescue workers had just gone down the white line with a chain
saw, literally!
The branches and trees were as deep as
the top of a car, and right to the white line!
You really had to be on-your-game while
driving. NASCAR should be proud!
The homes would all be destroyed, then,
an area with absolutely no damage!
Or the home destroyed but the garage
beside it untouched, and vice-versa.
Let’s put it this way….the clips do not
make as much of a visual impact as in person. When people say
“ …there really are no words to describe….”,
we all have a lot more personal emotion attached to those
words.
Lets’ talk a couple minutes about Sandy
(Mississippi Nurse) clip. The clip only shows part of the story….
The very first slide in the slide show
is HER HOME!
….yes the mobile home with the giant
tree re-decorating the living room and kitchen, floor-to-ceiling…..
she actually gave us several other
pictures which we will attach to this clip the next couple days….
Sandy, nickname Skippy, was working at the Pearl River County Hospital when
Katrina hit.
She saw the whole roof lift up, then
fall back exactly into place…
while she was praying, not for herself,
but for the patients and staff at the Hospital!
Talk about selfless…..
so, she goes home later and finds the
re-decorating job Katrina has done to her home—
she lives there with Dad, Mom, pregnant
twin sister and hubby, Granny and some family pets—
everyone is OK!!
The story she is telling (sorry for the
poor audio, we are trying to get it enhanced) is about rescuing what
Granny thinks is the family pet (raccoon) from the top branches of the
tree that has done the re-decorating,
turns out it’s NOT the family pet, but
in fact the wild variety….
but Sandy dutifully climbs into the
house and climbs the ‘re-decorating tree’,
throws a blanket over the uninvited
guest, and removes him from their “home!!”
One of us asks how many hours have you
worked at the hospital this past week?
164 she replies (that is 4 hours short
of 24 X 7days!), besides,
“ I’m the only one with a job right now
since everyone’s jobs are gone, destroyed by Katrina!, yep, we really
need the money now, until we get back on our feet”
Sandy, your home is destroyed,
where are you living now?
well we had an old one room camper that
was there,
and Katrina blew it around and turned it
upside down,
but its pretty much ok since we set it
back up, and we’re living in there…..no water, no electricity but an
absolutely unshakable spirit!
(And I remember griping the other day
because the air conditioning was a little too cool at the office!!)
Continuing,
the Guard pictures are guys from
Centerville—
what a small world,
the one waving is saying “Hi Mom!”
They were stationed right in
Poplarville, just down the street
In some of the clips is a fair
complected light haired wife of a preacher(Charlotte),
their church was destroyed, home
survived,
so they had set up a
parking-lot-mission at the local
grocery store parking lot
and were sharing the few
things they had left with people that had NOTHING.
Most of the semi-truckload of supplies
that you donated, were delivered to the same place and to these people.
(Pictures coming with Pam and Paula)
NO, we did not take the supplies and
materials to the ‘Official Drop Off Points’,
instead we delivered them exactly where
they were most needed:
Pearl River County Hospital,
the County Jail,
the local pastors,
Picayune County Hospital,
Picayune Nursing Home
and some to the National Guard to
distribute.
ALL the items from our over-stuffed
truck were put to use almost immediately.
When the 53’ truck arrived, it was
emptied and distributed in a flash!
I trust we were good stewards of your
donated supplies.
By the way, remember Sandy from
Pearl River? We made sure they got the bassinet and some baby supplies!
And in that grocery store parking lot,
the Chinese restaurant was fixing free lunch until their supplies ran
out.
The local restaurant was only open the
couple hours that power was on, and the menu was bread and warm water or
coffee.
Dr. Ange commented that, back in the
late 70’s as a student, when she went to Africa a few weeks…
.That this reminded her of those
primitive times.
Pam and Paula will return this weekend.
They have another load of video and
pictures which we will load as rapidly as Web-Master Lonell’s fingers
can convert the files and get them on
the site, so continue watching.
Update Wendesday 9/21/05
They're BAAACK !
Nurse Cross & Nurse Keene (Paula & Pam) returned to
work on Monday (finally). They brought with them tons of new pix and
videos; we are posting more of them each day---so stay tuned. The strories & hands-on experiences are incredible...its easier to have you
watch the videos than try to describe them here.
We have had loads of requests
for copies of some of these clips,
so we are organizing them to
fit on a cd and they will be available to be picked up at our office
during regular hours, no charge.
We expect to have them ready
by the 24th,
but call the office to make
sure we have them.
If you go to the
sign-up button at the top of the web site and give us your first name
and e-mail address we will e-mail you when they are available. Again,
this is being done as a way of saying Thank You for your support and
letting each of us keep a piece of this incredible journey and for
knowing you were a part of it.
Thanks again for making this possible.
This incredible chain
of events could only be possible from One Source.
People have been
touched in incredible ways…..
To GOD be the Glory!
Dr. Ange's Katrina Relief DVD in Production...Sign-up here to learn how to get your copy !!!
If you are experiencing a problem viewing any of the videos please click here
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