[NFBMT] NFB Hurricane Relief

Wed Sep 27 20:18:15 UTC 2017

This might be something for our chapters or our affiliate to consider.  Joy

>From Norma Crosby, President, NFB of Texas

Hello everyone,

Since we are talking about disaster relief, I wanted to give you guys
another update from Texas. Last week was a slow week for requests, and I
thought we might be turning a corner. Boy was I wrong. This week we have
begun to receive requests from the Golden Triangle area of Texas, and
Victoria folks have also started to call and email us. I'll give you a
little bit of geography here. The Golden Triangle area sits on the gulf
coast, and is made up of the cities of Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange.
There are other small towns that surround these cities as well. The Golden
Triangle is home to many of the oil refineries that pump petroleum products
out to the rest of the country. Many poor people live in the area, and
hundreds of homes were simply washed away by Harvey. I was talking to
someone this morning who is praying that the government will simply tear her
home down because rebuilding seems too hard and because this has happened so
often in the area.

Victoria is about an hour and a half southwest of Houston, along Highway 59.
You may have seen reporters saying they were in Victoria during the time the
storm was making landfall. Victoria was on the dirty side of the hurricane,
and the city and surrounding area was hit pretty hard. We are hearing from
families that have simply lost everything, but you are used to hearing that
by now. 

Although this continues to be a tough time, we have been so blessed by the
outpouring of love and support from our Federation family. Affiliates are
stepping up to adopt families, and that is particularly great because it
allows us to build a personal connection with those we are helping. Our
affiliates and the tiniest of chapters have been jumping in with wonderful,
and much needed, donations. I hope I don't leave anyone out when I thank the
latest folks to offer support.

Our Idaho, Pennsylvania, and Maryland affiliates have sent generous
donations. Our Utah affiliate has adopted a mom who has a blind child with
Down Syndrome. We have received more gift cards from Rhode Island, and I
could not be prouder of how the Greater Providence Chapter has stepped up.
They just keep on giving. 

I talked with Kevan Worley yesterday, and the Colorado Springs Chapter and
We Fit Wellness are adopting the Grimaldo Family. This is a family who has
not known us before, but they lost their home in the floodwaters a day after
they buried their 19-year-old son. He died in a car accident just before the
storm. They really need not only the monetary support right now, but they
need that Federation love that we are famous for.

We have also received donations from the Johnson County Chapter of the NFB
of Kansas. The Des Moines Chapter has also helped out, and our own Houston
Chapter has sent us a $1,500.00 donation. The NFB of Illinois is sending a
wonderful donation, and the NFB of Massachusetts is adopting Dwight
Kendrick. Dwight is a blind guy who also suffers from COPD. He was living
with caregiver prior to the storm because of his medical issues. Their
apartment totally flooded, and they spent several weeks at a disaster
shelter. They have since moved to a FEMA approved motel, which I am told is
less than charming. We have sent initial funding to him as we do for
everyone, and he and Amy Ruel will be getting together soon.

We have also been the recipients of many personal donations, and while I
won't try to list names here, I can tell you that you all have generous
people in your affiliates. Along with cash, people have been sending us
loads of gift cards, and we love those. Yesterday, we received $100 in Uber
gift cards from Juan Chang, who is Patti's brother-in-law. We appreciate
Juan and all the other people who have shared their resources with us. Gift
cards are a great way to help people out.

I don't know if these posts help you to understand how much your donations
have meant, but I hope they do. Our affiliate has earmarked a chunk of money
for this project, but we couldn't be successful at lending the support
people need if it weren't for you guys. I hear stories every day that bring
me to tears, but I am raised up each time by the thought that we have so
many people helping us.

I know we need to help our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico too. So, if
you are feeling the urge to help, please feel free to shift your resources
to them. We can never make everyone in Texas whole, but I think we have
collected enough funds and earmarked enough that we can manage to continue
our work for the next little while. The one area where I am still glad to
have help is the adopt-a-family program. It has been a popular way for
people to help, and if you feel your chapter or affiliate can help a little
there, I'd be glad to assign you a family or individual. 

Otherwise, thanks to everyone who has already helped. Now, let's all pitch
in for Puerto Rico. I can promise that Texas will be there for them.

Best regards,

Norma Crosby, President

National Federation of the Blind of Texas

On Tue, Sep 26, 2017 at 11:14 AM, President, National Federation of the
Blind via State-Affiliate-Leadership-List
<state-affiliate-leadership-list at nfbnet.org
<mailto:state-affiliate-leadership-list at nfbnet.org> > wrote:

Dear Colleagues,

Hope you are doing well on this fine Tuesday. I wanted everyone to know that
we have received a voicemail from Alpidio Rolon, but I have not yet
connected with him directly. He is apparently doing fine-as well as can be
expected-but obviously the communication infrastructure is very limited. I
will continue to work to determine where we might best place resources to be
helpful to blind people in Puerto Rico. However, we know from our experience
in Texas and Florida that it takes some time for those communication
channels to be established, and I suspect that will only be further
stretched in Puerto Rico based on the infrastructure failures. 

I appreciate that Federationists continue to be prepared to help. As we
establish what we might be able to do to assist our brothers and sisters in
Puerto Rico, we will share that information. Please continue to communicate
to our members that we are doing our best to establish those lines of
communication.

I am sure our continued prayers and positive thoughts for our Federation
family in Puerto Rico are sincerely appreciated.

Sincerely,

Mark A. Riccobono, President

The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends
who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation's blind. Every day we work
together to help blind people live the lives they want. 