Tornado Outbreak Relief!!!

Dear Friends,

Please say a prayer for my "other home" - Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  Say a prayer for the entire state of Alabama and the Southeastern region that was drastically affected by the tornado outbreak on April 27, 2011.  That is a day that is forever sealed in my memory, and I often wonder what it would have been like to still live there and be a part of that. 

I wasn't... I moved back to central Florida this past December after my own drastic year of losing everything in a house-fire and a continued battle with depression and anxiety.  I witnessed so many days in Tuscaloosa that looked as if "the sky was going to fall out" and I witnessed the heightened sense of fright when severe weather was reported, but there's no way to describe what is happening in that place right now because few have ever experienced something like that.  It breaks my heart, and I am doing everything I can to help out despite me not living there.  For the past five and a half years, Tuscaloosa was my home and I wasn't done there.  I plan to go back, to finish school and to part in the way that I set out to. 

But then April 27th happened and that town will be forever changed.

The destruction is almost unbearable to look at and the numbers of those lost, missing, and without a home are too high to comprehend to be the result of mother nature.

The entire state is in a state of emergency in what an EMA official described  the damage and destruction as: "Katrina without the 3-day warning." 

My heart is breaking for so many, but I know that good can come in crisis.  My learning experiences throughout my personal journey this past year is a constant reminder and personal example of good coming from crisis and I know how much can happen when people unite for the good of humanity. 

I am driving a load of donations up to Alabama from Orlando and I'm encouraging anyone in the area to message me if you can make donations such as clothes and supplies that I can take up on Thursday afternoon.  For folks that are out of town, please donate $10 by texting REDCROSS to 90999.  If you'd like to donate more - so much is needed!!! - please visit www.givetuscaloosa.com.  

Thank you so much.... so many good people appreciate your help! 

Please be praying for my friends, and "home away from home" as so many are experiencing huge losses. 

I love you all! God will provide! 

(The path through Tuscaloosa. Just missing my old place.  Many of my friends homes were destroyed.)

(A main street in town. You're not supposed to be able to see those building through that neighborhood of homes, apartments, and trees.)

(Holt.  Remember when I taught my JumpStart pre-k class for student teaching that summer?  Holt Elementary School was where I taught.  It was also in the tornados path.)

Matthew 6:25-34

PEACE AND LOVE

and lots of hope for Alabama

Bai

These are needed if you are in the Orlando area and can contribute to my efforts: 

baby diapers

wipes

premade formula

clothes (underwear & socks, too!)

toiletries

pop-top non-perishable foods

canned foods

can openers

tarps

shoes

women's hygiene products

first-aid supplies

THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!