A Texas Sized List

For anyone wanting to gather things together to send to Texas, here is a list directly from Texas on what they need immediately right now: A box or even a shoe boxed sized package would be great!

Additional items being requested:
Mouthwash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss

Multi purpose contact cleaner

Shampoo, conditioner, hairspray, mouse, styling gell

Razors, shaving cream, feminine hygiene stuff

Deodorant, hand sanitizer, bug spray

Sleeping bags (I only found 3)

ChapStick and toilet wipes

Water and water bottles

Bath towels and wash clothes

Body Wash and wash sponges

Allergy and pain medicines

Combs and brushes

Just an update from our area. A great deal of the region is still
without power. 68% of Centerpoint power customers are without
power, 95% of Entergy power customers are without power. They're
saying it could be anywhere between Sept 25 - Oct 5 before all power
is restored. ALOT of the area is being told to boil water, some
areas do not have water.

There is a possibility that a bank account will be set up for money
donations. We'll post more on that if it happens.

If anyone has any questions about shipping items or anything else, I
have a line set up at my office with my admin staff that can take
calls. 713-755-2204.

Thanks everyone!

Lisa Dodson
Harris County Sheriff's Office
Houston, TX

Address for Texas Disaster

For those that have been asking me, here is the Texas activation information to send packages, quilts, clothing, etc. off to Texas. All anyone asks is that you send nice and clean things!

Hurricane Ike Activation!

Dear friends. We need your help! We have received e-mails from a number of individuals and agencies. There is an immediate need for supplies, clothing and toiletries. Now that the storm has passed, we have networked with the Texas TERT Team Coordinator, Texas NENA and National NENA to confirm the need and start this very important activation.

Galveston, Orange and Beaumont areas have an intense need. This is for the many dispatchers that have been working since the hurricane. They are running out of fresh clothes and daily needs. We are only beginning to see what the losses are for these many 9-1-1 heroes since most have been working for days and have been unable to check their homes. Some are "waterlocked" and can't leave their centers until roads and utilities are safe.

Here is the plan! Please collect the following items:

Clothes of any sizes (read important note below)

New shoes and boots (no used please)

Socks (new)

Toiletries (soaps, lotion, shampoo, combs, baby powder)

Towels

Feminine Products

Baby Wipes (used for quick cleaning since showers and baths are impossible)

Paper products ( toilet paper, tissues, paper towels)

Purel or other sanitizing hand cleaner

Food items (things that can be easily heated or microwaved)

Snack/Candy (anything that won't melt in hot/humid temps)

Things to help time pass (magazines, puzzles, cards)

Imagine your own dispatch center. After three days of eating everything in the cabinets, what's left? Get things like ice tea mix, coffee, sugar, creamer, snack stuff, etc.

These dispatch centers are in evacuated areas of Texas but they have stayed behind for rescue and security of their communities. They can't just send someone to a FEMA shelter to get stuff, those shelters are hours away. If you are in driving distance from Houston , there is a need for cases of bottled water also. Contact us offline and we'll coordinate your offers for help.

At this time, we are not asking for money or gift cards. There isn't a mechanism to shop locally yet (everything is closed or damaged) and we don't have a list of specific needs other than what is listed above.

CLOTHING NOTE. We're all adults, so please take this in the spirit intended. During our Katrina Activation, we had amazing stuff donated. That being said, some people just sent whatever was in the musty attic. These agencies have NO fresh water, no washing machines, no dryers, etc. PLEASE wash EVERYTHING you send! Let them open a " Downey fresh" box from you, not a nightmare :)

PROCESS:

Put everything in the box.

Write the contents on one side. You don't have to be specific. Just write clothes, snacks, magazines or whatever you send.

Address it. Thanks to Lisa Dodson at Harris County 9-1-1 we have a secure location to send it to! Add Harris to your hero list, they have stepped up to be the base camp for donations that will be distributed to all affected areas. Mail or UPS to:
Harris County Communications Division

Attn; 911 CARES

1301 Franklin Street

Houston, TX 77002

If you have questions, Houston has agreed to be the Texas contact point. PLEASE call only if you need to. They are still very busy and we don't want to overwhelm them with calls.

UPS,FedEx and US Postal are all working to get boxes where they need to go. There are shiping updates daily as trucks can get there. We will post daily updates this week at www.911cares. com (scroll below the yellow ACTIVATION STRIPE for the most current info)

Texas Devastation....Calling All Quilters

I am not rich by any means, at least not in the area of money/cold hard cash. But I will be starting to do my part for making quilts for families that lost everything in Texas & it is looking like another Katrina type devastation.

I am calling on all quilters to do your part. Even if you can only make one crib or lap sized, trust me when you have lost everything, having a hand made quilt means the world to these people that have lost all.

Personally, I do not donate to the Red Cross, it is just a bad taste I have when they couldn't show where millions of dollars of donations went to for the Hurricane Katrina, not to mention one of their Directors was found to be filching money for themselves.

I would prefer to work on my own and ask others to do the same. I can put you in touch with someone who can help, someone I know will see to it these quilts get delivered. Trust me, 911 cares will be there when no one else is!

Perhaps you have a few quilts sitting on the shelf and always wanted to put them to good use, now is the time to do that! Perhaps your quilting group wants to help. Make quilts, donate small toiletry items, these are the things people need, not cute little bags, not other crafy things, they need blankets to keep warm, to hold onto when there is nothing else.

We can help these people, one quilt at a time!

Please Remember Your Local 9-1-1 Heroes Today

Today is September 11th, a tragic day in history. I can remember that day like it was yesterday. I was a police dispatcher at the time working in Goodyear, Arizona on the night shift. I left work at 0600 and drove my normal drive home (less than 10 minutes). Just as I was coming down the road to my home, I heard the news on the car radio.

I pulled into the drive way and my husband who is an awesome man, met me at the truck as usual and opened by door. Did you hear New York had a horrible plane crash. Yes, I just saw it on the news, two planes. What? No, you just saw the crash being replayed. It just didn't set it there were really 2.

My first thoughts went to my dad and step-mom living in New York because they live right outside the city and she works in NYC. Of course like a dummy, I tried to call their home but all circuits were busy.

It was AWFUL. I watched for a long time just not believing this could happen in the United States & then wanting to somehow reach out and help and know I couldn't. I went to bed and woke up and it was as if nothing had changed.

I was blessed to have that night off because I called NY until I reached my dad around midnight & NO, he was not happy to be wakened, but he said everyone was fine. It was then I realized my step-brother and his wife worked in DC.

My heart still goes out to all those who lost someone that day! I just can't imagine the pain!

While it will be replayed on television today, lets not forget those that answer the telephones when crisis hits, your local 911 centers. Please, make some contact with them today and say thank you!

Dog Tired

I am so exhausted from cleaning that I could sleep for a week. I completed the 2 bedroom apartment and did good with the exception that I didn't change the light bulb in one room. I started a house today & it is a sad little house because someone wanted to love it and never did.

It is a little 2 bedroom, 1 tiny bath, living room, dining room, kitchen, breakfast nook, laundry room and single car garage. The last renter let dogs or kids or whatever poop all over and there are dried feces on one of the carpets. The place is thick with flies, fleas, ants and mosquito's. I try to get the bugs to leave by opening the door and window to let the fetid stale air out.

Someone put double paned windows in, marble counter tops (over the old cabinets), new carpet (recently0, large tile kitchen floor. However, when things are left to renters, one never knows how it will end up and this one was left empty but disgusting!

Once I am finished with it and the carpet cleaners come out, it will be nice again, but the bathroom is comical. If you drank a lot one night and had to toss your cookies, you could sit on the toilet and puke in the sink or bathtub. There is absolutely no room in the bathroom to move at all!

Tomorrow I won't even go in to clean as I will be letting bug bombs off inside to kill the fleas!

Yuck!

Not Ashamed to Beg Your Vote

I have entered a quilt in the quilting bloggers Lazy Days of Summer quilt contest. It just reminded me of summer with the sunbonnets and sunflowers. I am asking my readers to please vote for my quilt & any others that you might want to vote for.

If I win, I get a wall hanging by the owner of the quilting blog, second place gets some really nice fabrics which I could also use (unless of course you ask my husband).

So, please follow this link to the site: http://quiltinggallery.com/tag/lazy-days-of-summer-photo-contest/
and then look for the sunbonnet couple and click to vote. It is really that simple. You don't have to register or anything!

I would appreciate it!

Quilts for Comfort

How many of us that quilt give most of the work we do away? I know I do. It just seems that as I make one quilt God leads me to the person who needs it most. That means even if I had planned to post it up for sale, my Lord has a better place for it.

Take the 911 center, who recently received one of my quilts that I had ever intention of selling to earn my family some income while I am unemployed, here is an excerpt that was sent to 911 Cares: 'special thanks to the retired quilting dispatcher from Aberdeen Washington, the warmth of Kaseys memory will be with us all each time we look at the lovely quilt. ' (9/5/08 911 Cares).

A few years ago during the tragic killings at Virginia Tech, I made 9 lap sized quilts within a week. I had a friend donate to me during this time her brand new sewing machine, a Vietnam Vet sent me a check for $25 (incidentally, he is also a quilter) for supplies, an Air Force wife gave me fabric and thread that had belonged to her mother, a dear friend sent me a check for $25.

I used this money and more for the quilts. I do not have UPS or FedEx donate postage to me though I have tried throughout the years to get them to give me some type of a discount, without a 501C non-profit status, they won't help. The cost to send those quilts via USPS was if I remember correctly just under $40.

I wanted all of you to be aware that there is a huge need to reach out to the 911 dispatchers in need. Sometimes they need WalMart gift cards, money, cards & even just our prayers. It isn't an easy job, while many people are sleeping safely in bed, they are awake all night answering the calls for service. While you enjoy week-ends and holidays with your families, they are at work eating with co-workers.

This September 11th many of us will remember the tragedy of New York, but few will remember the dispatchers that took those calls. What about your local 911 center? Do you know if it is a county wide agency or a stand alone agency? Do you know your non-emergency call for help? Look them up in the phone book or call the non-emergency number and ask for an address to send a card of thanks, take a pizza, cookies, etc. to let them know while they have a stressful job, you are thankful they do it best!

The next time I ask for donations, I hope I can get some of you, my readers to respond because there is no better time to reach out than when someone is hurting and in need!