Thursday, September 8, 2011

People's Houses are Burning Down and We Can Help

The other day I caught myself cursing the fires that surround Austin. I left town for a weekend, and when I returned there were fires everywhere. We could see them from the plane, on either side of town -- great grey billowing clouds smoke rising from the earth. I was surreal.

So far, Austin has been lucky. Lucky enough for me to lose perspective.

You see, right now it's really nice outside. Like, 92 degrees as a high,which after a summer in the hundreds feels like the cool fall we've all been waiting for. Except that these fires have released tons of smoke in the air and they're telling us, especially those of us with kids, to stay inside. Which is so infuriating because, you know, it's finally nice outside.

Yesterday I was feeling very, very sorry for myself and my kids. Like I said, I was cursing the fires. And then I realized that I was being ridiculous. Because there are over 1,300 people around here who wish they had a house to be confined to. Because the fire took theirs. Just like that, everything they owned is gone.

And they need help. So instead of feeling ungrateful, I figured I could try and help those folks.

And you can too. Here are a couple of ways how.

October 17 at the Frank Erwin Center Willie Nelson, Asleep and the Wheel, and other special guests will be holding a benefit for the Fire Victims. More Info soon!

Central Texas Red Cross
http://www.centex.redcross.org/index.asp?IDCapitulo=F9ZLZNZ3KD

Catholic Charities
http://www.ccctx.org/

Strings Attached presents an Evening benefiting Fire Victims Saturday @
Nutty Brown Cafe (http://stringsattached.org)

If you have any fire relief ideas, please let me know!







3 comments:

Joanna said...

My folks lost their house in the Bastrop fire and my mom thinks the Bastrop Christian Ministerial Alliance (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bastrop-Christian-Ministerial-Alliance/120728641360562) is doing great work if you want to directly help people affected in Bastrop.

MAYBELLINE said...

How about making a recording of the event available for purchase with the proceeds going to those suffering from the fire? I certainly would buy a recording for my iPad.

EMQ said...

Oh Joanna I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. Please give her a hug from our family, and I'll definitely post that link.
And Maybelline, that's a great idea. I'll pitch it to Ray!