Today was a good day; here are some examples of how i witnessed neighborly support and love today:
- my neighbor, an artist painted 20 canvasses for a fundraiser
- a couple giving their entire day to rip out stuff, wheelbarrow loads, inventory, run errands
- co-workers fundraising to cover deductibles
- co-workers mobilizing in one day to bring tools to move furniture, tear out carpet and padding, sheetrock, baseboards, water vacuum, cleaning supplies, water
- neighbors borrowing a hose
- neighbors sharing construction bags with neighbors
- a friend driving her friends girls to another friends house for the day, so they don’t have to witness or experience this devastation
- that same friend who had no devastation to her house, opened her home for the girls to hang out all day with her kids.
- I’m reading about MD Anderson employees who somehow found a way to work (bike, Kayak, walk) during the Hurricane to serve their patients, keep their research trials going, made it in to complete a stem cell transplant within the 10 day window, and the most impressive was our ride-out team who stayed on their shifts from Friday night until Tuesday, some Wednesday…. straight!
- JJ Watt has folks raising 12 million dollars – really? that’s legit!
All the while, there are water rescues still, the shelters are full, the volunteers are coming in droves, money is being raised. Another body found today, from the rescue group looking to help people Monday. Death toll is now 25. 136,000 flooded buildings in our county. The flooding territory was as large as the state of New Jersey. Trillions of gallons of rain water dumped from Harvey. Life flight helicopter still flying over my townhouse to the hospitals.
A lot of long days to come. But we will prevail. This is a resilient city.
jennifer cofer 